Redesign & Rebuild
by pandajay
Summary: **Prequel** to the current story 'Reclaim'. There's a full summary/explanation in the first chapter. It's mostly Seth Rollins/OC but it will have other superstars popping in and out of the chapters!
1. Chapter 1

**Oh hi everyone! I know I've made a few mentions about giving you all a 'prequel' to the Seth and Carter story and here it is- I have finally started something! This story isn't going to be super long (at least I'm not planning on it!) It will probably just be a handful of chapters- kind of like one shots- that will give you a little glimpse into how their friendship/relationship blossomed from his injury and leading up to his comeback and the start of 'Reclaim'. It will include Wrestlemania and some solid history on their past relationships. So I hope you enjoy it! And I hope it doesn't ruin 'Reclaim' for you!**

 **I probably won't update this one as often as Reclaim has been updated - maybe once a week? Just because it's not going to be as long. Just a heads up!**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **Just as a normal disclaimer - I do not own anything but my original characters! The WWE owns everything else!**

* * *

Carter Kelly was sitting on an equipment box backstage of the arena, eyes focused on the blinking cursor in front of her, trying to pound out a blog post. She ran her fingers through the long ponytail hanging over her shoulder and she sighed. She wasn't in the mood to be working right now. She was in the mood for a nap. She reached to her side to grab her cell phone and distracted herself by scrolling through her Facebook.

She glanced up from her phone and her eyes fell on a familiar face rounding the corner at the end of the short hallway.

Seth Rollins was slowly making his way in her direction. He was in sweats and a jacket, a beanie pulled over his hair and his glasses on. She could tell just by the look on his face that he wasn't feeling well.

She set her laptop to the side and swung her legs around, crossing them and smiling at him as he looked up from his own phone and noticed her.

"Hi champ," she stated when he got close.

He scoffed, making a face and shrugged, "I don't think I'm the champ much longer but thanks."

"I'm surprised you're still hobbling around here. When are you going home? Why aren't you on crutches?"

"I'm supposed to be but I figure I can't do anymore damage. I'm leaving in the morning. I'm going straight to Birmingham."

"Dr. James Andrews! Get your Tommy John fixed while you're there."

"I am slightly impressed you know what a Tommy John is."

She pointed at her shirt with an Atlanta Braves logo on it, "I know a thing or two about baseball. How are you holding up?"

"Is this an official interview?" He quipped.

"I mean, I can put you on snapchat if you'd like but I was just curious," she countered. "I apologize for asking questions."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to come off..." He shrugged, seemingly at a loss for what word to use.

"Dickish?"

"Sure, dickish. It doesn't hurt much right now. I don't know…I don't think it's all set in yet."

Carter nodded, biting her lip. "Well…I'm not trying to sound cliche but I feel your pain- literally. I've been there before."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I actually hurt the same knee. What is yours? MCL, ACL and meniscus?" He nodded. "Mine was MCL, ACL and LCL."

"Fuck. How did you do that?"

"Ah, I did it about five years ago when I was playing softball at UCF. I was the catcher, I got run over on a play at the plate and the girl fell on my knee, twisted it five different directions. I had surgery a week later."

He made a face. "Did you play anymore?"

"I was told I wouldn't, at least not as a catcher, but I did. I missed my whole junior season but I played my last season. I wasn't as quick as I wanted to be jumping up from a squat to throw down to second but I managed."

He gave her a poignant look, nodding.

"You'll be back in the ring, Rollins. If that's what you're worrying about. You work hard, you're hella athletic, and you love all of this. You aren't going to have any problems."

"Thank you."

"It's going to hurt like a motherfucker. I will tell you that. Be ready for that. You'll be back in no time, though."

"I want to be back by Mania but…" He trailed off, shrugging.

"Just take it a day at a time." She gave him a warm smile, "and take advantage of it. Go home and relax, see your family, hang out with your girlfriend, go to the movies or a concert or a football game. Recharge yourself. When I had my surgery, that season I couldn't play was the best thing for me. I remembered why I loved playing the game so much."

"I'm not trying to sound…unappreciative or anything, but why are you telling me this? I think this is the longest conversation we've ever had…"

"That's not entirely my fault and I'm telling you this because you're part of the club, now. And sometimes it's nice to know that somebody else gets it. It's something you have to go through to understand." She motioned at the phone in his hand, "let me see that."

He unlocked the screen and handed it over to her.

"If you ever need to vent or whine about how much you hurt or how frustrating it is to not be able to bend your leg or bitch about the doctors; my number is in here now. My phone is always on me."

"As it should be, social media girl." He glanced down at his phone and then back up at her. "Aren't you dating Ziggler?"

"No, not anymore, and it wouldn't matter anyways. I'm not hitting on you, Seth, I'm offering you a friendly ear. Don't make me regret it."

"I…I didn't think you were…I didn't think that." He gave a quiet, nervous laugh. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged, giving him a haughty look, "It's fine. I know you aren't accustomed to a woman not falling all over you."

"Ouch," he laughed.

"You kind of deserved that."

"Fair enough. Thank you, for this," he wiggled his phone in the air, "I may take you up on your offer."

"I'm not going to hold you to that but the offer is there. Good luck with everything. I know you'll be missed around here."

He nodded again, a small smile forming on his lips, "thank you."

Carter gave him another warm smile and shrugged, reaching for her laptop that she had set to the side. She slid off the equipment box and looked up at him, "you're alright, Rollins. I'll see you around."

A little over a week later, Carter was walking into her house in Tampa, juggling a bag of groceries and her gym bag, along with her keys and cell phone. The bag of groceries and gym bag ended up on the floor by the door, her keys and phone on the counter. She exhaled loudly, blowing a few strands of hair out of her face, and looked around her dark house. As good as it was to come home, she was starting to hate how quiet and empty it felt.

She needed to have Renee and Dean come for a visit the next time they were off the road.

She had returned from the Europe trip the day before and she was settling back into her 'at home' routine before she headed back to RAW.

She glanced at the bag of groceries, she didn't recall having anything that needed to be refrigerated, so those could wait. She needed a shower and a glass or three of wine.

Her text alert sounded as she was crossing her room, undressing as she headed for the shower, and she backtracked to check her messages. She was curious who was trying to get in touch with her at almost 11:00 at night.

She let out an audible chuckle when she saw the name and text on her screen.

 **This fucking sucks.**

It was Seth. She had exchanged texts briefly with him, as well as he could manage, the day of his surgery but she hadn't heard from him since then. She was a little surprised by both of the contacts from him.

 **I guess I shouldn't ask how you're doing?** She responded, setting her phone down and continuing on to the shower. She could hear the text tone a couple of times as she was showering, shaking her head and laughing to herself, _he must be bored._

Once she was dry, she grabbed her phone and headed back to her kitchen for the wine and snack she planned on having.

 **I'm doing ok I'm just restless.**

 **I don't like be stuck in a bed. I don't like not being able to walk. I don't like being on pain meds.**

 **I'm bored.**

She tossed a bag of popcorn in her microwave as she read the texts and paused, thinking to herself before she responded.

She watched the numbers ticking down on the microwave and sighed, _fuck it_.

She opened her phone and hit the info button on her text screen, seeking out the phone symbol and responding to Seth by calling him.

"Carter Kelly..." She heard a very groggy voice answer the phone.

"Hello, Rollins," she smiled.

"I didn't expect a phone call."

"You said you were bored so I thought I could entertain you for a few minutes. You don't have anybody with you?"

"No."

"Seriously?"

"No, just me."

Carter frowned and hit the 'clear' button on her microwave, popping the door open before the buzzer went off. "That blows."

"What are you doing? Are you still on the road?"

"No, I got home yesterday. I just got back from the gym and I'm making popcorn and drinking wine."

"By yourself?"

"Yes, just me."

"Where is home for you?"

"Is this an official interview?"

He chuckled, almost laughed. "I see what you just did...funny..."

"Tennessee is home but I live in Tampa. I'm ten minutes away from John and Nikki."

"I forgot you're buddies with all of them. That's why I never see you around."

"All of them?" She questioned.

"Yeah, the divas...Nikki and Brie and Renee. You don't hang out with the rest of us. You're elite."

"Hold on a second..." She paused, sitting her phone down so she could have both hands fully available to pop the cork out of her wine bottle. "I hang out with other people..." She defended when she picked the phone back up, "you make me sound like I'm a snob."

"I don't think you're a snob. I don't really know you...you're quiet."

"You don't see me around because I do a lot of stuff behind the scenes and when I do see you, it's for a 30 second interview after a match..."

"You aren't a big fan of me are you?"

Carter scoffed, taking a sip of her wine, "I'm on the phone with you at eleven thirty on a Thursday night...what kind of pain meds do they have you on?"

"No, humor me for a minute. This isn't the meds. I've been thinking about it ever since you stopped me in the hallway. We've never really talked before _except_ for interviews. I don't know why you...people just don't try to be friendly with me these days. I'm a bad guy."

"I think this is exactly the meds but I'll humor you, ok?"

"Bring it."

"I don't really know you, Seth. I hear Dean and Renee talk about you and I see what I see when we're around each other. You kind of have an air about you that you don't want to be bothered and then sometimes you don't. I don't dislike you; I have no reason to dislike you, and I'm not going to judge you for anything. I know you had a lot of drama go on and that is what it is- you're a grown ass man. You had a pretty gnarly injury though and you're about to have to start over at the very bottom and it is brutal and you're going to be away from everything that is normal for you and I've been through that before. I felt like you could use a friend...and I have a big heart and I can't help trying to help people. You aren't a bad guy you've just made some really stupid choices the last few months. You're probably trying to convince yourself that you're a bad guy which is also stupid."

"How much do you know?"

"I just know the backstage gossip, honestly."

"Fucking brilliant," he muttered. She could here him laugh slightly.

"If it makes you feel any better I didn't see the pictures and I have no plans to ever see them. It's really shitty that happened to you; nobody deserves that."

He was quiet for a moment.

"Thanks."

"When do you start rehab?" She asked, trying to deter the conversation away from his personal life.

"Another week, at least. It's going to suck isn't it?"

"It's not too bad when you first start. Once they get you weight bearing and moving around though, yeah it's going to suck."

"I miss crossfit. I miss the ring."

"That was the worst part; for me, at least. Pain is easy, you can take a pill or use some ice, it passes. Not being able to do what I loved was awful for awhile. The first time I went by the locker room and field I cried, no joke."

"I don't think I'll cry."

"Stay connected to it. Don't let yourself get in your feels about it."

"I have a wrestling school up in Davenport. Well, it's in Moline, but it's up there. I plan to teach even if I can't actually get in the ring so...well I have that."

"Good."

He cleared his throat slightly, "um...ok, so I lied to you earlier. I did think that you were kind of snobby. I just kind of assumed...yeah, I just...assumed you were a little on the stuck-up side."

"Oh," she replied. "Um...well thank you for your honesty."

"You were honest with me. I'm not sure if it means anything but I think that I was wrong for assuming that about you. So I apologize."

"It happens," she frowned to herself. "Go get you some sleep, though. You'll need it. Let those pills do their magic."

"You trying to get rid of me? I pissed you off didn't I?"

"No. If you want to talk I'll stay and talk."

"I don't want to keep you awake," he replied.

Carter could hear a hint of something in his voice. Sadness, maybe? She couldn't really tell but she could tell he was reaching for some company. She couldn't help but wonder where his girlfriend was.

"One thing you will learn about me is that I am a night owl. I love sleep but I stay up longer than I should. I think it's a product of how we travel. So I'm here and awake..."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, but I have one question to ask you if we're agreeing that I'll stick around and entertain you."

"What's that?"

"Why isn't your girlfriend with you? Shouldn't she be...taking care of you?"

"That was more than one question."

"Technically it's just one big question with two parts to it but you know...fair enough, I guess."

"She's just not here. She had..." He paused and cleared his throat slightly, "she had some other things to do."

"Oh," Carter frowned. "Well I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

She made a face as she stood in her kitchen, shaking her head at herself. She needed to learn how to filter herself sometimes. She trekked into her living room, settling down on the couch and tucking her legs under her.

"You're really just all on your own? That's really shitty, Seth..."

"I'm a grown man, I can deal with being on my own."

"Yeah but you just had surgery and you're in pain and that just...really sucks. Everybody wants to have somebody around when they're not one hundred percent."

"My mom is down here with me, she's just asleep. I'm not totally on my own..."

"Well damn, I was starting to feel sorry for you. I was going to say I'd come to Orlando and say hello. Tampa isn't that far away."

"You can still say hello if you want to. Let me ask you a question now."

"Ok..."

"What happened to Ziggler?"

Carter made a noise; somewhere between a groan and a growl.

"You had to go there?"

"You started this."

"I haven't even had a full glass of wine yet and…can we save that one for another day?"

"Is it that bad?"

"No, it's just fresh. I haven't…I won't say I'm not over it but I'm in that anger stage of things. I would just rather not right now."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was a fair question. Maybe one of these days I'll tell you."

"How did you avoid backstage talk?"

"Nobody knows how to work the backstage area like a backstage reporter, Rollins. I know how to keep shit inconspicuous. I'm sure there's some kind of talk, I just haven't heard it. And I hedged a lot of it off by just telling the girls that I ended everything with him."

"You didn't?"

"No."

"I'll stop asking questions about it now. It's none of my business."

"Yeah I mean I thought you were just going to whine a little bit and I could go about my evening. I didn't think this was going to turn into an episode of Oprah."

"Well thank you for sticking around. I appreciated it. Truthfully I haven't talked to many people since I left…"

"Because you're a bad guy?"

He chuckled, "I told you people don't want to be my friend. It was lonely at the top."

"I'm undecided on if I want to be your friend or not."

"Isn't that why you gave me your number? In case I needed a friend?"

"I didn't think you would actually use it."

"Really? Why not?"

"I don't know I just didn't think you would."

He was quiet for a moment. Carter took the opportunity to take a sip of her drink and glance at the time. How in God's name had this happened?

"So what's your story, Carter Kelly?"

"My story?"

"Yeah, your story. How did you end up in the wrestling world? You're a softball player."

" _Was_ ; I was a softball player. How do you know I haven't wrestled?"

He snorted, "I would know."

"Oh, are you the king of the wrestling universe?"

"You're kind of snarky."

She sighed, "yeah, it's a character flaw. I'm sorry."

"I don't mind it. We're two peas in a pod on that one."

"Well, to answer your question, for starters it's Carter Cargile; not sure if you know that or not. Triple-H asked me to come to the performance center for an interview and audition. I was impressive and I worked in NXT for a bit and here I am."

"So you were hand picked? Look at you."

"Yeah, I guess. I think I was just lucky."

"Do you like it?"

"Most of the time. I'm still finding my way. Like…you referred to me as 'social media girl' and I don't want to just be the social media girl. But I know it takes time."

"The best way to get somewhere in this business is to make yourself be seen. Make yourself stand out."

"I will keep that in mind."

"Woof, I got the blow off line…"

"No! I didn't mean it like that. I wasn't trying to be dismissive. I'm pretty sure I should take note of any advice the champion gives me."

"Former champion."

"Yeah but it has an asterisk next to it. It doesn't really count."

"That's very glass half full of you."

"Here's a social media girl line for you- hashtag tweet the positives."

"I'll remember that one."

Carter yawned, trying to hold it back. She was apparently more tired than she had thought.

"I should let you go," Seth said.

"Ok."

There was a slight pause; almost an awkward silence. Carter bit her lip trying to wait to see if he would speak. She started to get anxious and started to speak at the same time he did. They both shared a warm laugh.

"You go," she said.

"I was just going to say thank you for talking to me."

"You're welcome."

"Have a good night, Carter."

"You too, Rollins."

She hung up the phone and looked at the screen for a few seconds as the call screen faded to her phone background. She gave a half smile and shook her head slightly. That was slightly weird but it was also really nice. There was a piece of her that did feel for him.

She started to open her texts to send one to Renee or Becky, she felt the urge to tell someone.

She paused. Maybe she would keep this one to herself for a little bit.

Carter had just finished a run and was slowly ascending the steps in her garage, taking a few deep breaths to steady her heart rate. She had woken later than she really wanted to but rolled herself out of bed and hit the pavement anyways. She had every intention of enjoying a day on the beach before she headed to Las Vegas to meet up with Renee and then back to their usual tour of shows.

She glanced around her kitchen as she pulled her ear buds from her ears and sighed to herself. She should've cleaned up her popcorn and wine from the night before.

Her phone vibrated in her hand and she looked down at it as she tossed her ear buds on the island counter.

 **You promise I didn't piss you off last night?**

She smiled and then scrunched up her nose, making a face.

Why did he care?

She sat her phone down on the counter top, eyeing it, and shook her head as she turned away and headed to her room. She was going to wait a bit before she responded to him.

She changed into her bikini and threw on an oversized t-shirt since she was only going as far as the back "yard" of her house.

She grabbed her phone and a bottle of water and almost as soon as she walked out her back door she got a phone call from Nikki.

"Please go out to dinner with me tonight, Carter. John is gone and I'm bored."

"Hello to you, too, Nicole," Carter smiled, cradling her phone on her shoulder as she shifted the things in her hands.

"Hello, so dinner? Yes? And happy hour?"

"I thought we decided we were quitting happy hours for awhile."

"You and Brie decided that, I did not."

Carter sighed, "yes I will go to dinner with you."

"I love you, thank you."

"You too, just text me where and when ok?"

She small talked with Nikki a few more minutes and hung up. So apparently she was going out for drinks and dinner now.

She settled in on her lounge chair and looked at her phone again.

She pulled up the text from Seth and responded to him: **I promise. Nothing to be mad about.**

It only took a few minutes for his response to come through.

 **I'll stop worrying about it now.**

 **How is everything today?** She responded to him.

 **Good. I thought about going to the performance center…**

 **You should. It'll be good for you.**

 **Why? So I can see all the things I can't do right now? Sounds like fun.**

Carter rolled her eyes. **Stop feeling sorry for yourself.** **It'll give you something to do and get you out of your room/house/wherever you're staying.**

She set her phone to the side and leaned her head back, closing her eyes and soaking up the warm rays of the sun. She wanted to enjoy it while she could. With the traveling she was going to do and heading home for the forthcoming Holidays to see her family, she would be in much colder weather than she wanted.

She could feel herself wanting to doze off and opened her eyes at the sound of her text tone.

 **You're still undecided on being my friend yeah?** Seth had responded.

She chuckled to herself. **How could you tell?**

 **You pretty much just told me to suck it up and get over myself. That's not very friendly. You seem to be a no bullshit kind of girl.**

 **I like to stay honest.** She paused for a moment, thinking to herself, and sent him a follow up to her response. **I'll make a deal with you...if you get out and do something and stop thinking about how much this sucks right now- I'll give this whole 'friends' thing a trial run. You seem like you need one... (no offense!)**

He didn't respond right away and she took the break in their conversation to open up her spotify app and browse through her music before making a decision on something. She put in her ear buds and let the music flow, closing her eyes and relaxing again, enjoying the warmth.

She made it through a few songs when her text tone interrupted her music. She opened her eyes and looked at her screen to check if it was his reply.

It was; short and sweet. **None taken. Deal.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! I wanted to get this update out before I went in for my foot surgery! Hope you all enjoy! Posting from my phone so I apologize for typos! I promise I will come back and edit later!**

 **Happy reading!**

* * *

Carter sat across from Renee on the patio of a café in Greenville, South Carolina, waiting on their food to be delivered and sipping on their coffee. It was a brisk morning but not quite too cold to enjoy a patio brunch.

Carter's legs were crossed, her arms folded in her lap and she was watching the light traffic pass by them while Renee looked at her phone.

They had gotten to Greenville late the night before and Carter had managed to convince Renee to do yoga with her that morning. Their couple of girls days in Vegas had been a fun time; it was always a good time with Renee. Carter knew Renee was eager to see Dean, though. It was tough to leave him behind overseas while they came home to the states.

She couldn't even be mad at her friend for giving some attention to her phone; she got it.

She glanced at her own phone that was sitting on the table. Seth was supposed to have an appointment that morning and she was curious about how everything was going, what the doctor had said, how he was healing. She frowned to herself slightly and looked back at the passing traffic.

They had spoken at least once every day since their phone call. It wasn't always a lengthy conversation and it came in spurts, but they had talked. She was still weary about it, though, and doing her best to keep some kind of distance. She always let him come to her first, even if she wanted to talk to him. She didn't want to come across as encroaching on anyone's territory, he did have a girl friend, and she was honestly trying to figure why she had put herself in this situation anyways. She shouldn't have given him her number to begin with but she felt for him; she knew what he was going to have to deal with while he was recovering and she knew it was hard. And he was lonely; she could sense that in him from the start and she couldn't push away someone that was a kindred spirit.

"You better not be staring at your phone and getting all starry eyed looking off into space because your mind is on Ziggy Starcheater," Renee interrupted Carter's thoughts.

"What?" Carter mumbled, looking at her friend.

"You're spacing out so I know your wheels are turning and you were staring at your phone...I figured it was Dolph."

"No," Carter shook her head and made a pained face at her friend. "I don't think about him much anymore and I do my best to avoid him. He's kept his distance, too."

Because her life was a collection of inopportune moments, her phone vibrated on the table, drawing her and Renee's attention.

Carter read the name on the screen, _Rollins_ , and then reached for her coffee mug.

"Who is it, then?" Renee asked, a slightly playful and happy look on her face. "You're holding out on me!"

"I'm not holding out on you about anything or anyone, Nae," Carter replied. "My brother and I are figuring out Thanksgiving plans."

"Liar," Renee countered, cocking an eyebrow at her friend. "I _will_ reach across this table and look at your phone and don't think I won't. Tell me, Car!"

Carter glared at her friend. "You're really a bully for being so small and bubbly."

"I know," Renee winked at her.

"It's Seth, ok?"

"Seth? _Rollins?_ "

"No, Meyers, yes Rollins."

"Wh- how?" Renee stuttered on her question. "I didn't think you two..."

Carter watched her friend shrug.

"Yes, I know. It has been brought to my attention that I give off snobby airs, I'm going to work on that."

"We do kind of have a clique," Renee shrugged. "But still...why? Or when? How?"

"I gave him my phone number before he left to come home for his surgery."

"You slut."

"No, Renee, stop it. It's not like that at all."

"That line has been said so many times in the history of everything. It's never like that."

"Well it's not. It's friendly- one hundred percent. I had the same injury he has and I went through the surgery and rehab and getting back in to game shape and I just put out an offer of a friendly ear if he needed one."

"So it was Carter the 'I have to fix everyone' girl that gave him your number and not Carter the 'I have a thing for guys with long hair that wrestle in the WWE and have amazing abs' girl that gave him your number?" Renee gave her friend an amused look over her coffee mug as she took a sip of her drink. "I mean, I couldn't blame you. I've been around him, I get it."

"He has a girlfriend so yeah it was the "I need to fix everyone" Carter that gave him my number. I felt bad for him."

"He has a whore but fair enough," Renee shrugged.

"Renee."

"I'm sorry, I can't stand her. She's..." Renee paused at the daggers Carter's look was shooting at her. "Okay! It's not like that, you aren't interested, you're just being a good person, whatever I get it."

"Thank you."

"You can respond to him, don't let me keep you. I don't mind."

Carter reached for her phone and shot a glare at her friend in the process, "I will be so happy when I can give you back to Dean later today."

"Well that's something else that you and Seth have in common," Renee teased her.

Carter trudged into her hotel room after the Smackdown taping on Tuesday night, leaving her bag discarded in the middle of the floor and letting herself fall back onto the bed.

She was tired. Going from Europe, to her home in Tampa, to Vegas and back to the eastern time zone had thrown her body into a little bit of a tailspin. She was ready to sleep and have a day of relaxation. Her next day was going to be full of an airport and more travel though.

She sighed heavily, exhaling as she did so and blowing some strands of hair from her face.

These were the kind of nights where she did miss Dolph; not really _him_ per se, but the company. At the very least she wished that the Bellas or Renee were around.

She groaned to herself, willing herself to snap out of her mood, and rolled off the bed to shower and put herself to bed.

She was just settling in to her bed and about to turn off the bedside lamp so she could drift off to the sound and light of the TV when her phone sounded. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, contemplating if she wanted to look at her phone or not.

 **Hi.**

Carter made a face at the screen but unlocked it to respond anyways.

 **You do know it's almost midnight don't you?**

 **Thought you were a night owl?**

 **I've had a long day…**

She watched the screen as the iMessage bubbles appeared as he was typing. They disappeared and started again before his message came through.

 **I'm sorry. I'll let you go. I hope you feel better in the morning.**

Carter smiled. **Thank you.**

 **You're welcome. Good night.**

She stared at the phone for a moment before placing it on the bedside table.

And so the conversations continued every day. Still sporadic between her work and traveling and his rehab and whatever else he was occupying his time with; but always ongoing.

He would ask who she traveled with and what she did with her down time, what music she was listening to, and she would ask about his recovery and his start of physical therapy and somewhere in the mix of all of it; it started to become normal.

Thanksgiving had snuck up and after a few days on the road that week, Carter was happily at home in Tennessee with her family to enjoy the holiday, the food, and the family time. The day itself had been full of family noise, cooking, talking, cracking open wine bottles, watching football and just a warm, happy time. Carter had been content and happy and couldn't have asked for a better day even as she returned home with her brother and his family to settle in for the rest of the night.

Then her phone rang and after two ignored phone calls and several ignored text messages she had retreated to the back porch of her brother's house; snuggled in a hoodie and nursing a glass of jack daniel's and coke; trying to let her mind clear and settle down.

Why did exes always have to make appearances on holidays? When would they stop trying to hold on?

She could hear her brother and her nephews in the living room but at the moment she was enjoying her solitude.

She felt her phone vibrate in her hoodie pocket and she groaned in frustration. She was ready to trek out into the yard and throw it into the river that flowed behind the house.

She begrudgingly pulled it out and looked at the screen, pausing at the name she saw; it was Seth not Dolph.

 **I know I've been MIA for a few days and I wanted to say I was sorry for it. I also wanted to tell you Happy Thanksgiving.**

Without hesitation, Carter sought out the phone icon in her messages and pressed send, hearing the rings before she even had the phone to her ear.

"Well hello, Carter Kelley," Seth greeted her.

"Hi," she replied.

"I didn't expect a phone call..."

"You never do."

"I'm not much of a phone call person, really. I prefer texts. Text messaging was by far one of the greatest technological inventions of our time."

"That was a lot of big words," she frowned to herself, "and well...you got a phone call."

There was a pause on his end of the phone. She could hear him moving around and she sighed, leaning her head back on the wooden patio lounge chair she was sitting in.

"Are you drunk?" He asked after a moment.

"No."

"Oh you're definitely drunk," he chuckled. "You fucking drunk dialed me."

"I'm not drunk. I'm a little bit tipsy but I'm not drunk. Although I can't make any promises I won't make it there. I don't have to work until Monday so..."

"Was spending time with your family really that bad?"

"No I love my family. I'm ridiculously close to my family. My evening was bad."

"You want to talk about it?"

"No…" she trailed off and sighed.

"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have called me if you didn't want to talk about it."

"I called you because I was curious about why you disappeared for a couple of days, since you brought it up." She had a realization hit her and she gasped slightly, before he could even respond to her. "Oh shit Seth, are you with your family? Did I interrupt you guys? I'm so sorry!"

"No," he laughed again, "no, you didn't interrupt anything. I wouldn't have answered the phone."

"Are you sure?"

"It's fine. I'm already at home. It's just me and my dog and the football game."

"You have a dog?"

"His name is Kevin."

"What kind of dog is he?"

"He's a yorkie."

Carter snickered. It was almost a snort.

"What?" he asked her.

"I wasn't expecting you to say you had a yorkie. I figured you would have like a pit bull or german shephard or something. A yorkie…do you carry him around in your gym bag? Please tell me you do."

"Well I'm hanging up now. I'm not going to listen to you emasculate me about my dog- who by the way is a badass dog."

"I'm sorry," Carter laughed, "please don't hang up. I couldn't help it; you took me by surprise with that. Please…"

"That was your one strike," he replied. Carter could hear the teasing in his voice.

"Send me a picture of him. I'm sure he's adorable. How do you travel all the time and have pets?"

"Well I'm not traveling right now," he replied dryly, muffled. There was silence for a few moments and Carter felt her phone buzz with a text before he spoke again, "when I was with Leighla she would take care of him. We tried to share him for a bit but it didn't really work out too well because she hates me so my family dog sits when I'm gone; either my mom or my brother. Now it's just me, though."

"You're feeling sorry for yourself again," she smiled to herself. She pulled the phone away from her ear to open the text from him. "Oh my god he is _precious_! Oh he's so shaggy and tiny. Awww…"

"Mhmm you aren't going to make fun of him anymore are you?"

"I wasn't making fun of him I was making fun of you."

"What are you drinking?" he quickly changed the subject.

"Wine, mostly, I'm working on a JD on the rocks with some coke right now."

"The hard stuff; yikes."

"I can handle it," she replied. She shifted in the chair, propping her boot clad feet on the railing in front of her and sighed.

"Come on. What's in your head?"

"Can I ask you something that's probably really inappropriate but…well, I already insulted your manhood tonight…"

"I'm only going to say yes to that because I'm very curious as to where this is going."

"Do you regret cheating on Leighla?"

Carter held her breath, regretting her questions before she had even finished asking it. There was silence from his end.

She finally heard him clear his throat.

"Yeah that's um…that's not where I expected that to go."

"Oh fuck, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Seth. Forget that I said that, ok? Just strike it from the record. Ugh…"

Carter buried her head in her free hand and shook her head at herself.

"It's fine, stop it. You took me by surprise on that one. I didn't know this was going to turn into another Oprah conversation."

"It's the alcohol," she mumbled.

"A drunk mouth speaks a sober mind," he replied. "Hold, please, and then I will answer your question."

"Ok," she said meekly, looking up from her hand and looking out at the clear, crisp Tennessee sky and the river. She sat her drink down on the ground next to her chair, deciding she was done with it, at least for the time being.

She heard him sigh heavily and she made a curious face as to what he was doing.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking this damn knee brace off. It's driving me crazy."

"I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to do that."

"Probably not but I don't think you're going to call my doctors and tell on me so I'm doing it."

Carter chuckled, "fair enough."

"Oh fuck that's better…"

"Just don't try to walk or anything. Put it back on before you get up or go to sleep…"

"Ok, Carter Kelly, I'll make a deal with you. Tell me why you _really_ called me and I'll indulge your questions."

"Ok but you first."

"Fine; to answer your specific question yes, I regret it."

"I sense there's a bit more to that answer."

"I regret everything that I did in handling all of that. I was…well I was too much of a dickhead to be a man and get out of an unhappy relationship like I should have."

"Are you happy now?"

"It's your turn," he replied, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Carter was silent for a moment, letting her mind wander for how she wanted to answer him.

"Are you backing out on me?"

"No. I didn't have anyone else to call and talk to," she said.

"I definitely don't believe that. What about Renee, or the twins, or Becky?"

"Renee is with Dean. The twins have their own things going on. Becky is at home with Fergil…" she shrugged to herself.

"So you're stuck with me."

"Yeah pretty much."

"I'm working on the happy part of things. It's a little difficult to do that right now."

"Understandable."

"My turn?" He asked.

"I think so."

"Why are you working your way up to 'drunk' with a jack and coke on Thanksgiving instead of hanging out with your family?"

Carter was silent. She bit her lip and pulled herself into her hoodie a little more.

"Nick called me, and text me, a few times and I was just really irritated and a little weak."

"Ah," Seth's response was quiet. "Are you ok?"

"Eh, I will be," Carter shrugged. A silence fell on both of them. Carter picked at some stray fuzz on her leggings and frowned to herself. "I guess I should tell you what happened."

"You don't have to. I'm perfectly okay with continuing on with a different subject if you want."

"No it's fine. Um, so you know Ashley, or well Dana Brooke? From NXT?"

"Yeah…" Seth already knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"Well she happened; several times for several months and I was an idiot and didn't know a single thing about it. And when I did figure it out he told me that he had realized I just wasn't the kind of person he thought he could see a future with. So he looked elsewhere for a future while still with me and I was good enough to sleep with but not stay with that whole time."

"Shit, Carter…" Seth muttered. "Oh man I'm sorry."

"So now he's trying to call me on a holiday, probably because he assumes I'm drunk, and tell me he hopes I've had a good day and I enjoyed my time with my family and he just missed talking to me and seeing me. He never wanted to meet my family, by the way, so I'm not sure why he cares."

Carter stopped talking, or ranting, and took a short breath, waiting for Seth to say something.

"Chances are he's having a lonely day and hoping you'd be around to talk to him…" Seth said. "I mean, I can't speak for him, but just with my 'guy' knowledge…"

"I was so dumb, so dumb," she shook her head. "I should've never gotten involved with him, I was just dumb. I was a glorified fuck buddy, essentially."

"Stop that." Seth sat up on his couch, intending to lean on his legs, and winced when he realized he still had his knee brace off and he had bent it more than he needed to. He swore under his breath, holding the phone away from his ear for a moment.

"You ok?"

"I forgot for a second that I can't bend my knee," he responded, a slight groan.

"Told you not to take the brace off…"

"Yeah I got it." Carter snickered as he sighed, "anyways, stop doing that. Don't call yourself stupid or dumb. I'm not allowed to feel sorry for myself and neither are you. Plus I'm not going to listen to that. Trust me, trust this coming from me, but by no means was anything that happened your fault so don't blame yourself for it. I don't care what he told you or what excuse he gave you. He's a piece of shit and I've never liked that dickhead but I especially don't like him now. You deserve better than that."

"You don't…even really know me, though."

"I know you enough to know you're a genuine and sweet person and that you care a lot for people even if they haven't earned that from you. Plus, nobody deserves that, Carter. They don't deserve to have someone else's mistakes put on them. He's an asshole."

"Thank you."

"And he doesn't deserve for you to spend any time at all being upset about him."

"That's easier said than done."

"I know but I'm just…I'm just saying. Don't give him any of your energy or your time. He gave that up. I've been on both sides of that and I get it and I know it's hard to let it all go but…just stay strong. Fuck it."

"Well you're a bit better at advice than I think I've given you credit for."

"I'm very wise you just have to give me a chance. Besides I'm…dealing with my own shit right now."

"You are?"

"Yeah, Zahra and I are done. She's halfway moved out of the house…" he stopped and cleared his threat, "so there's that."

"I'm sorry, Seth."

"Thank you."

"I would send you some of my jack and coke if I could. It burns a little but it feels so good."

"I'm not much of a drinker."

"You're straight edge aren't you? Oh you must think I'm a total lush."

"No I'll fuck with some beer here and there. Craft brews, micro brews…I was straight edge when I was younger, though. Wrestling and music were my drugs and drinks."

"You sound like a PSA they used to show on Saturday morning ABC."

"That dog...McGruff?"

"Yes!" Carter laughed, glad that he got her reference.

She heard the patio door slide open behind her and she turned around to look as she heard her name.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were on the phone," her nephew, Tyler, said.

"It's fine little man. What's up?"

"We're going to watch Christmas Vacation and dad said to come see if you wanted to join us."

"Absolutely. Tell him I'll be there in a few."

He nodded at her and slipped back through the door without another word.

Carter brought her phone back up to her ear, "sorry, that was my nephew."

"Christmas Vacation?" Seth questioned.

"Yeah it's family tradition. We always watch it on Thanksgiving night. ''Tis the season…"

"Well go enjoy your family time. I hope you're feeling better."

"I am, thank you. Thank you for talking to me. I'm sorry I…I don't know I'm just sorry. I feel like I should be sorry for something."

"Have a good night, Carter."

"You too."

She smiled as she hit the end button of her call. She was feeling better. It had been nice to vent and get a different response than what she typically got from the girls. She loved them but she was tired of their reactions making her feel like she _was_ an idiot for getting involved with him. It was nice to feel a little bit more like someone was in her corner.

She slipped her phone back in her hoodie pocket and reached for her drink. She was going to heed Seth's advice and enjoy her family time. Fuck it.

Seth looked at his phone as he set it down on the coffee table. He sighed heavily and leaned back, running his hands over his hair and rubbing his face.

That had been unexpected.

Truth be told there was a part of him that hated hearing the details about Carter's break up with Dolph. He _had_ been on both sides of the situation and he knew that kind of hurt and damage he'd caused. At least he had owned up to his indiscretions. She didn't deserve that, though. Even if he had only known her for a few weeks he knew enough to understand the type of person she was.

A small part of him was angry for her.

He made a frustrated noise and looked over at Kevin who was laying on the opposite side of the couch.

"She's a good girl, Kev."

Carter woke up late the next day. Later than usual for her, but she wasn't surprised after her late night with her family and her rounds of drinks.

She laid in bed for a few minutes, letting her eyes adjust to the morning light and trying to assess how bad she felt. Surprisingly, she felt ok.

She grabbed her phone and climbed out of the bed, heading for the kitchen. She could smell coffee and it was beckoning her.

She looked at her phone as she walked down the hallway; junk emails, work emails, a text from Renee and a text from Seth. She responded to Renee and then opened his.

Carter smirked at the link he had sent her and she opened it, scrolling as she poured herself a mug of coffee.

She switched back over to her texts to respond to him.

 **So you're sending me playlists now?**

She stood at the island, watching her youngest nephew sitting at the bar, eating waffles and furrowed her eyebrows. She wanted waffles.

"Jack, did your dad make those for you?"

"Yeah," Jack answered, not looking up from his plate.

She frowned, "where is he now?"

"I don't know. He and mom both disappeared. Tyler is in the living room."

Carter smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. Never mind, she would make her own breakfast.

Her phone buzzed on the tile countertop.

 **Is there something wrong with that?**

She replied: **No. I've only heard of like 3 of the bands on it.**

 **I'm not surprised you're kind of a hipster/indie chick with a strange mix of rap. Just give it try. It's good for workouts and it's good for when you're angry at your ex.**

Carter smiled. **You mean sad and pathetic? I'm going to send you one that's all sappy, twangy country songs.**

 **I told you to stop doing that. And please don't :)**

 **Thank you. And thank you again for talking to me last night. It helped.**

 **Anytime.**


	3. Chapter 3

Carter walked out of the gas station, hurrying across the parking lot to her rental car, quickly slipping into the passenger's seat to get the car started and the heat running again. It always amazed her how quickly she could go from comfortable to freezing outside in the winter weather.

She was just a short way outside of Boston, bound for Philadelphia, following that night's Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay per view.

She still had a few hours to go and it was late and cold but she always preferred driving through the night over waking up early. Normally she had a companion but she was on her own tonight.

She had stopped for gas, some caffeine, chocolate and a cheeseburger and was ready to continue on her way.

She shimmied out of her pea coat and tossed it aside along with her beanie and settled into the feeling of the seat warmers as she pulled out of the parking lot.

Spotify was set on shuffle and she let herself fall into the melodies and beat of her music, singing along and dancing in her seat, getting her mind occupied and focused.

Her phone's screen lit up in its resting place on the small indentation on the dash and she let her eyes dart to it, realizing she had a text.

She bit her lip and reached for her phone to check the message quickly.

 **I just wanted to check in on you. Let me know how the drive is going when you can.**

It was Seth and Carter couldn't help but smile slightly to herself.

She had told him earlier that day she was heading to the next city after the pay per view and hadn't had the chance to check in with him after the show.

She reached over to the passenger's seat to her purse to grab her ear buds, slipped the adapter into her phone and slipped one in her ear so she could talk hands free; pressing send to call him.

The phone rang a few times and she heard the call connect. He cleared his throat before giving her a "hello, C."

"Were you asleep?"

"Halfway," he replied, yawning. "I woke up and text you and was going back to sleep."

"Fuck I'm sorry. I'll talk to you later."

"No you've got me now, it's ok."

"No, Seth, go sleep."

"I figured you would be girl gossiping with Becky or napping or something," he responded. She could hear him moving around on his end of the line.

"Oh um well I'm not with Becky."

"Oh well tell Renee and Dean hi for me."

"I'm on my own tonight. It's just me."

"Carter," he said sternly, "why in fuck's name are you driving by yourself overnight? Isn't it like 1am there? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"I have a feeling you're about to tell me how dangerous it is."

"It's stupid dangerous."

"Don't you travel alone? You're all privacy and grumpiness…"

"Yeah well creepy people aren't going to approach me if I stop all alone at a truck stop in the middle of the night."

"That's a bit sexist," she teased, laughing lightly.

"Sexist or not it's true," he shot back.

Carter sighed; rolling her eyes a bit, setting her phone in her lap and leaning back some in her seat. "I'm fine. I have caffeine and sunflower seeds and snacks and my music. It's not a big deal."

"Well I hope you have a lot to talk about too because you've got me for the next however many hours you're on the road."

She huffed, "you were sleeping and you can go back to sleep. I shouldn't have even called you."

"I'm awake now. How much longer do you have?"

"Roughly two hours."

"I guess I'll just make some coffee. I can sleep later."

" _Fine_ ," she replied, biting, pursing her lips together and glaring at the windshield and the few other cars on the highway.

"Ooo I've pissed her off," he teased her.

"Well you're a pain in the ass. You're acting like my dad or something and I know I can't just hang up on you because you'll just call back until I get annoyed and answer."

"I just want you to be safe, Carter. Do you do this a lot?"

"What? Drive by myself during the night?"

"Yes."

"No, not really; rarely. I was just on my own tonight. Everyone had people in town and I figured if I was going to be at the hotel on my own I might as well just go ahead and go to Philly. I prefer staying up and sleeping in over sleeping and waking up early. Plus I have a photo shoot tomorrow and I'd rather have a few extra hours in my bed then rather than tonight."

"What kind of photo shoot?"

"Something for Christmas, I don't know, I'll probably end up as a scantily clad reindeer or candy cane or something."

Seth snickered, "you sound so excited about doing that."

"It's the part of this job that I hate the most. I don't know how to do the whole sultry, sexy thing, but I have to. Like, I know you guys have to deal with the whole sex symbol thing but you have no idea how easy you have it."

"I'm not a sex symbol," he replied.

"I'm sorry, are you kidding me? Yes you are."

He sighed, "no, I'm not. I'm...I don't know, I just wrestle and play video games, I'm not...I don't...this is awkward."

"You don't what? You don't know how to be sexy?" She laughed.

"Again; this is awkward."

"Rollins you've really got to be kidding me right now. There's no possible way you can think that you and Roman and Dean and Cena and all the other guys aren't sex symbols. Especially Roman with those amazing pretty blue eyes he has..."

She heard Seth huff on his end of the line.

"Don't you know how many females and probably males would die right now to be on the phone with you while you're in your bed? Let alone be _in_ that bed."

"Awkward, Carter."

"You know that smug, douche bag smirk that you do?"

"No."

Carter sighed, shaking her head. "You're hopeless. My point is, though, that all you guys have to do is go out to the ring, take your shirt off, do your match and go back to your business. You don't have to do photo shoots and be sexy elves in candy cane striped miniskirts or bikinis."

"I don't think bikinis or candy cane striped miniskirts would be a good look for me anyways. I'm too hairy."

"Again, you're just completely missing my point."

"Why would an elf be in a bikini anyways? Isn't the North Pole cold?"

"Bruh..."

"And reindeer just have fur so technically they're already scantily clad..."

"You're fucking doing this on purpose and I really hate you for it."

"It's keeping you awake isn't it?" He asked, laughing.

"I didn't need you to keep me awake so don't be so proud of yourself."

"Why did you call me and wake me up then?"

"Because I'm driving and it's not safe to text and drive."

"The one 'safe' thing that actually crossed your mind out of all of this."

"And you were awake when you text me, obviously. You can wipe the smug smile off your face. I can hear it in your voice."

"The sexy one?"

Carter inhaled deeply, and cleared her throat, pausing for a moment and trying to not let herself get frustrated with him. He was baiting her and she knew it.

"Are you going to hang up on me?" He asked, most of the teasing gone from his voice.

"No I was just trying to count backwards from 100 before I called you an asshole."

"How far did you make it?"

"92, _asshole_."

He laughed, "I'm sorry. It's just so easy with you. You get flustered very quickly and it entertains me."

"Well I'm glad I can entertain you."

"I promise I'll stop now. For a little while anyways."

"One day you'll regret purposefully irritating me."

"We'll see."

Carter smiled to herself, reaching for her coffee to take a sip.

"Did you watch the show tonight?"

"No, how was it?" he replied.

Carter could hear a change in his voice and she frowned slightly.

"Why didn't you watch?"

"I haven't watched anything since my surgery. I just…can't. And don't tell me to stop feeling sorry for myself, it's deeper than that."

"I won't, I understand."

"I'm stepping back from all of it. Even social media. I just want to focus on what I'm doing here and when it's time I'll get caught up on everything. Or you can keep me updated. I don't mind hearing about it I just don't want to watch it…"

"Well you could at _least_ watch my pre show next time," she replied, scoffing at him. "That would be a very friend-like thing to do."

"Oh is my trial run over?"

"Once again we're on the phone in the wee hours of the morning and you've been scolding me like a rebellious teenager so I think it's safe to say we're friends."

"I can't help that you're reckless."

"You're a worry wart."

"Friends worry about their friends."

"Okay so let me ask you a question; I was thinking about this tonight. Doesn't it hurt? Going through tables and jumping off ladders and what not. I mean I know you guys have your safe ways of doing things and taking bumps but still- you're going through a table…"

"Look at you and your wrestling lingo. I'm impressed."

"Can you not mock me for once? That was a legitimate 'I'm interested so tell me about what you do' question."

"You're really wanting to have a conversation about wrestling with me?"

"Yeah, educate me. We have two hours…"

"Well yeah it hurts but I don't know, I don't really notice it in the moment. There's a lot of adrenaline pumping and I mostly just focus on what I'm doing and what the other guy is doing and having faith we don't fuck up. It hurts more after the fact, the next morning. Unless I get legit hurt, it's hard not to notice that. I used to blade before my WWE days."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I have a few scars. I'll show you some time."

"I'm good."

Seth chuckled, "it's not that bad. It's all part of the show. People like blood and danger."

"You're all a little bit crazy but I admire you."

"Thank you."

"Do you ever hurt anyone on purpose? Not like seriously hurt them but if you're in the ring with someone you legit dislike. Do you ever slip up and actually kick them?"

"All the time."

"Hmph…well whenever you're back if you ever face Dolph and you want to throw one of those in…"

"Oh I've already thought about that."

"Shut up," she laughed.

There was a comfortable silence that fell over them for a few moments. Carter took the chance to adjust the setting on her seat warmers and open her sunflower seeds. She switched the car's radio back on and kept the volume low, searching for a station that would come on. She didn't need the noise but there was a white noise silence to the car outside of her phone call and it was starting to bother her.

"Do you have any more questions?" he asked.

"Part of my job is asking questions; I'm sure I can come up with plenty."

"Well I'm an open book. I like your curiosity about everything."

"A lot of it is new to me."

"Give me like…3 minutes to let Kevin out and start some coffee and you can fire away. I'm not hanging up, just stepping away; my phone is charging…I haven't been keeping it very charged lately."

"Okay."

" _Do not_ fall asleep."

"I won't."

Seth held true to his word, staying on the phone with her up until she parked in front of her hotel to go inside and check in. The majority of their conversation had been her firing off a long string of questions at him, mostly wrestling related. It had been good, light, and educating. She had learned a lot about the business and about him and how deep his passion for all of it ran.

She promised him several time that as soon as she was in her room she would text him to let him know she was one hundred percent safe and settled.

She slipped the key in the lock and drug her bag in with her, letting the door fall shut behind her and being sure to switch over the extra latch on the door.

 **In my room. I'm good to go.** She fired off a quick text before tossing her bag on the bed to unzip it and retrieve the clothes she planned to sleep in.

She changed quickly and washed her face, pulled her hair up in a messy top knot and trekked back into the room, turning off lights as she went.

She checked her phone as she plugged in her charger.

 **Good. Be sure you have all the locks covered.**

She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

 **I'm a grown ass woman I can handle this.**

 **Thank you for worrying, though. I scoff at you but it doesn't go completely unappreciated.**

She pulled her covers down and settled into the bed, reaching over to turn of the light.

 **If you plan to do this again give me a heads up, ok? So I can take an afternoon nap.**

 **Thank you. Go get your sleep now.**

 **Good night. Good luck with the photo shoot and your reindeer candy cane elf outfit.**

She smirked and chuckled, responding with a series of Christmas emojis and some smiley faces and set her phone aside, letting herself drift off into the sleep she desperately needed.

A week later, Carter found herself pacing in a hallway backstage at the Target Center in Minneapolis, awaiting the start of that night's RAW and the annual Slammy awards. Although she wasn't presenting the actual awards she had been tasked with 'hosting' and she was reading over her script even though she would have it in front of her.

She was excited.

"Well yowza! Looking good my southern mama!"

Carter looked up to see an energetic Renee, smiling, coming down the hallway.

"Oh well thank you my Canadian sister," Carter smiled.

Renee pulled herself up onto an equipment case, crossing her legs. "You all ready?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun. It'll be nice to be out in front of the crowd for once," Carter brushed her hair over her shoulder and folded her arms, looking at Renee. "Just cross all your fingers and toes that I don't trip on anything because these boots…"

Renee glanced down at the burgundy, velvet booties Carter was wearing and made a face at the heel on them, "should've tried to sell them on how fashionable flip flops are."

"Right?"

" _So_ …" Renee wiggled her eyebrows at her friend and clasped her hands in her lap, "dinner tonight, after the show; all of us and Nikki and you know Dean…we thought about Dolph but I nixed that, Becky…and you should invite Seth if you didn't already. Just a pre-Christmas send off for all of us."

"Eh," Carter shrugged, crossing her feet and frowning. "Dinner and drinks definitely sounds great."

"What are we eh-ing?"

"I haven't talked to Seth in a day or two," Carter shrugged.

"Why not? I thought you two were like BFFs now?"

Carter sighed, "it's…it's a long story, Nae. It's nothing."

"Carter!" Renee exclaimed. "What happened? Last week he was staying up all night to make sure you got to your hotel okay. Talk to me."

"I just, I don't know. I'm just kind of rethinking this whole 'friend's with Seth Rollins' deal." Carter scoffed and sighed, leaning against the equipment case with her hip and looking at Renee. "I just don't want to get too close to him, even as just as a friend, because I don't _really know_ if we're friends and I don't want to deal with more bullshit right now. Yeah he did stay up all night making sure I stayed awake and worrying about my safety and then four days later he was in Orlando and didn't even tell me. We talked that day but not a single mention of a plane or being in Florida or being at the performance center or anything. And I don't know why."

"How did you know he was there?"

"Because I was there, too. I went to work out with Becky and he was leaving when I got there. I saw him."

"Did he see you?"

"If he did he hasn't mentioned it. He's text me some but I just ignored him. It's petty, I know, and stupid but it kind of pissed me off."

"You two are really just friends, Carter? This isn't one of those like…you have a booty call dude but you pretend like you don't know each other in public things?"

Carter scowled at her friend, almost a glare. "No, Renee, it is not like that. We talk, we vent, and we share music; that's it."

"Well…I don't know. Just talk to him about it, I guess."

"I will, eventually, but I'm doing my best to avoid him tonight."

"Well he's on crutches so I feel like you can outrun him. Even in those heels…"

"Thanks," Carter smirked.

"Well I still have to get hair done so I will see you later. Good luck, love."

Carter smiled, watching Renee slide of the equipment box. She winked at Carter and continued off down the hallway.

Carter watched her leave and sighed heavily to herself. She pulled herself up on the box where Renee had been sitting, reading over her script again and finally giving in and scrolling through her phone, looking over Twitter and Instagram.

She was in the process of posting a selfie when she heard the all too familiar voice.

"Are we always going to run into each other in hallways?"

 _Fuck._ Carter closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked up from her phone, Seth standing a few feet from her in an all black suit, leaning on his crutches and a half smile on his face.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," Carter replied.

Seth watched her as she got down from the equipment box, doing his best to inconspicuously look her up and down. Last time he had seen her she was in sweat pants and a t-shirt. Tonight she was camera ready; heels, black leather leggings and a burgundy fit and flare top.

This was different.

"After all the sleep I've lost talking to you I figured I would at least get a smile from you," he said.

Carter gave him a pensive look. She felt bad, she could see the slight disappointment on his face, but she didn't want to do this at that moment.

"I, um, need to go finish getting ready for tonight. I hope you enjoy your night back, though."

She gave a forced smile, pausing before continuing on her way when she realized she was going to have to go by him.

"Carter…" he said, sighing as she passed him. "Hey, look, it's not fair to run away from me I'm kind of at a disadvantage."

She stopped and turned to him as he turned around.

"What's wrong?"

"I've just been busy," she replied.

"Okay."

She sighed, rubbing her face with her hand and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Look I just…it's a big night for you tonight and I just want to let you have that. Enjoy seeing everyone and being in front of your fans. You know how to get in touch with me later…"

"Will you actually respond to me?"

"Yes. I have dinner plans but yes, I'll talk to you then."

He sighed, shifting on his crutches, "what's going on? Ziggler drama?"

"Just enjoy your night, Rollins. I need to…go work," she waved the script in the air slightly.

"Ok," he shrugged, holding his hands up in defeat and giving her an aloof look. "Good luck with everything tonight. You look really nice…"

"Thank you," she replied.

She gave him another look, biting the inside of her cheek and turned to retreat down the hallway, shaking her head as she went. Now she was feeling bad, and she knew she probably shouldn't feel bad, but she couldn't help it. He had looked genuinely happy and then so disappointed.

Carter had managed to put her slightly guilty feelings out of her for the majority of that night's show. She was standing quietly near the curtain that led to the stage, watching on the monitor the match that was currently happening and waiting to go back out. She glanced to her right when she caught movement out of her peripheral vision and her eyes fell on Seth, standing a bit back from the handful of people that were standing around.

Carter bit her lip and then turned to walk back to him.

He gave her a slightly surprised look as she sidled up next to him.

"Are we speaking now?" he muttered to her.

"Look, there's a group going to dinner tonight; Nikki, Renee, Dean, some other people. If you're feeling up to it you should come."

He looked at her and she looked at him, a short silence passing between them.

"I would love to but I'm leaving after the show," he replied.

"Oh. Well disregard."

"You would have already have known that if you hadn't been avoiding me…" he shrugged, turning his eyes back to the monitors.

"You're a fine one to talk about somebody avoiding somebody," she replied, matching his tone.

"What are you talking about?"

"How was your trip to Orlando?" she turned toward him.

She watched recognition cross his face and his shoulders drop slightly, "Carter, I wasn't avoiding you. I was seriously only there for a day, not even a whole day. I just didn't think there would be time…we saw the doctors, we stopped by the performance center and we came right back to Iowa. My brother was with me and he-"

"Carter!" they both looked over at the sound of her name being called, "you've got like one minute and you're back out there…"

"You could have at least mentioned it. You do know how that comes across, don't you?" she turned back to him

He was quiet, looking at her.

"It's fine, ok? I get it. That's why I've been avoiding you, though. It hurt my feelings."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Forget about it," she shrugged and turned quickly to head to the curtain and go back on stage.

Carter returned to her hotel room fairly late that night, exhausted and just ready to crawl into bed and sleep for a few hours before she headed to the airport. Then she could go home and relax and see her family and enjoy the holiday. She had purposefully ignored her phone for the majority of the night. She knew Seth had text her and that he was home but she hadn't felt like talking.

She fell back on her bed and closed her eyes, sighing heavily.

She felt stupid and now she was avoiding him out of embarrassment. What right did she have to get her feelings hurt over him not telling her that he was in Florida? He didn't owe her anything.

She reached for her phone that she had discarded next to her when she flopped down on the bed and frowned to herself before texting him.

 **Are you still awake?**

 **Of course I am** : it didn't take long for his response to come back.

 **Can I call?**

 **Sure**

Carter sighed at the one words response but went through the motions of calling him anyways.

He answered with a curt 'hello' and she frowned.

"I'm not driving on my own overnight this time…" she offered to him.

"Well it's good to see you've learned one thing."

"I can't promise I'll never do it again."

"I'll take it."

Carter sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "Look, Rollins, I'm sorry that I avoided you and that I snapped at you. I just…I don't know, I have trust issues I guess. And that's an excuse and I don't give excuses so…I'm just sorry."

"I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, it wasn't intentional."

"I know."

"Truth be told I had hoped that I could hang out with you when I was around today; go to lunch or something, but you were like a little gnome and just hid all over the place so you missed out on that. That's on you."

"I'm not a gnome. I'm not even short."

"Your ears are kind of pointy…"

"Well you look like a skunk."

"That's rude."

"You compared me to a creature that hides out in gardens, it was fair."

He chuckled lightly and silence fell over them.

"I know you had a long day and being around everything probably wasn't great for you so I'm not going to keep you and talk your ear off about nothing. I need to sleep anyways. I wanted to clear the air, though, and just…maybe we can just erase all of that from the record. We can have a do-over eventually."

"Well next time I actually see you I expect you to be a ray of sunshine, then."

"I think I can handle that."

"Are you flying home to Tampa or Tennessee?"

"Straight to Tennessee; I can't wait."

"Hope the flight goes smoothly. I'll talk to you tomorrow, I'm sure. Sleep well."

Carter smiled, "you too."


	4. Chapter 4

**Just wanted to say a quick 'thank you!' to all of your that are reading this story and for those of you who have also checked out 'Reclaim'. I love knowing my work is being read and I love hearing from you!**

* * *

Carter eyed herself in the mirror of the guest bathroom in her brother's house. She raised her eyebrows, looking back and forth by turning her head, then winked at herself and blew herself a kiss.

She was ready.

She pulled her hair into her hands and let it loose, draping it over her shoulder as she walked into her room.

Her nephew was sitting on her bed, kicking his feet against the side of it and playing with her phone.

"Can I help you, sir?" she smiled cheekily at him.

"I'm not old enough to be a sir," he replied, giving her a look like she had just told him the sky was pink.

"You're a little 'sir'."

"Whatever you say."

"Could I have my phone?"

He frowned at her as she held her hand out to him. He handed it over to her and she gave him an amused, half smile.

"Now what are you doing here? I thought you and Ty were helping your mom."

"Making cookies is boring and girly. I want to hang out with you."

"Well I'm going to a party little man, I can't hang out right now."

"Can I come?"

She frowned at the excited and hopeful look he gave her and she tilted her head, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

"It's for big kids, Jack. I'm sorry. Hey but if you're staying up to wait for Santa I'll stay awake with you, yeah? We'll watch one of your superhero movies."

"I guess."

"How do I look?"

He looked at her, studying her, "you're pretty. You look like a movie star."

"That's my boy. Always here for a confidence boost."

She grinned and bent over to kiss her nephew's head. "I love you, Jack. My tablet is in my bag if you want to play some games. Do _not_ buy anything!"

"I won't I promise! Have fun!" he slid off of her bed and shuffled over to her bag.

Carter shook her head and headed down the hall to the kitchen where her brother was waiting on her.

"Are you finally ready?" he asked.

"Yes I'm ready. We can go." Carter looked at her sister in law who was happily mixing up cookie batter. "I'm jealous you get to stay here."

"You'll be fine, C."

"Yeah, yeah. Will you take a picture of us before we leave? I want to show off my handsome brother to the WWE universe."

"Oh yes get me some fangirls!"

"Honey…no."

Carter grinned at the look her sister in law gave her brother. Jacob rolled his eyes and motioned for Carter to come stand with him. Carter passed her phone over, posing with him, and smiled as she took the phone back from Megan.

"Ok, we're leaving now. Carter has an escape plan ready for us so we'll be back around ten."

"I'm going to get deathly ill, send prayers!"

"Have fun!" Megan called as the siblings headed out of the house.

Carter skipped down the stairs behind her brother, following him to his car, her heels clicking on the sidewalk. She slid into the passenger's seat and settled herself, going straight to her phone to post the picture to Instagram.

"You're obsessed with that thing."

"I am," Carter grinned at him.

Her phone vibrated in her hand and she glanced at it, the text alert on her screen.

 **Stop stressing out you'll have fun. Stress isn't allowed on Christmas.**

She smiled at the reassuring text from Seth. She had been complaining to him all morning about the Christmas party she was attending with her brother that night. Her brother's law firm was hosting it, as they did every year on Christmas Eve, and she knew there was a large chance their dad would be there. After all, he was head of the firm.

She wasn't thrilled, or prepared, at least not until she had access to the bar.

She had given him a condense history of her problems with her dad, not really wanting to drag him deep into her issues but he had been nothing but supportive and encouraging. Mostly he had just tried to get her to stop worrying and focus on trying to enjoy herself with her brother, at the very least.

She had apologized profusely for unloading everything on him but he had brushed her off, telling her not to apologize. He owed her some good listening and venting time and he didn't mind it.

 **I'm not stressed. I'm apprehensive.** **I would rather be drinking egg nog on the couch watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas.** She responded.

 **The only grinch right now is you.**

Carter laughed aloud, getting a strange look from her brother.

"Who are you talking to over there?"

 **Go away, skunky. Bah humbug.**

 **I'll be here if you need me….**

"Um, one of the guys…that I work with," she shrugged.

"Oh fuck, Carter. Not again, please?"

"What do you mean 'not again, please'? You make it sound like I've hopped around from ten different wrestlers. I dated one."

"And how did it work out for you?"

"Absolutely terrible thank you for the reminder," she glared at him. " _This_ is not that, though. We're just friends."

"Ok."

"We are!"

"Ok, I hear you. Whatever you say."

Carter huffed, rolling her eyes in the dark of the car and shaking her head. "I don't know why it's so hard for people to believe a guy and a girl can be just friends."

"Which one is it? Which guy?"

"Rollins."

Her brother chuckled, shaking his head. "Oh you do pick them, little sister."

"Shut up and mind your own business. Look I don't have explain this but I reached out to him because of his injury because I have been there and we've just been talking. That's it."

Her brother glanced at her and shrugged, "you don't have to defend yourself. I harass you because that's what I do."

Carter gave him a light punch across the console. He laughed and reached over, ruffling her hair.

"Ew stop! I actually looked presentable!"

She flipped on the overhead light and pulled the visor down to fix her hair in the mirror on the sun visor. She huffed, glaring at him as she turned the light off.

She looked down at the phone in her lap.

What was so wrong with being friends with Seth? Any person that knew about their talking came back with the same reaction. It was annoying. At the core of it all, she had tapped into a source of support for her and that was something she needed; outside of her girlfriends. She loved them but she needed a different point of view; fresh eyes and ears.

And so what if she flirted with him occasionally? It was innocent and harmless. Everyone does it.

She opened up her phone, pulling up his text thread and studied the screen for a moment. Before thinking about it any longer she selected the picture Megan had snapped of her and Jacob earlier and sent it to him.

Seth had set his phone on the coffee table, next to his half empty bottle of beer, after his last text to Carter.

He and his brother, Brandon, had just started a game of Madden and he knew he needed to be distracted unless he wanted his brother to never shut up about who he was talking to. He also knew that Carter was headed to a party and despite her reservations about the night, she needed to be focused on her family and the evening.

He glanced over as his screen lit up. He could see the notification and could see it was a picture.

That was intriguing.

He passed some glances over at his phone a few times, debating on if he wanted to look at it or wait, and then reached for it and his beer. He sat his phone in front of him and unlocked it, pulling up the text from Carter.

He glanced down at the picture and paused for a second.

She was in a black lace top with cap sleeves and a high waisted gold, sparkly pencil skirt that came down to her knees and it hugged her like a second skin. She was standing with her brother, her long hair falling around her shoulders, and she was smiling. For all the pouting and grief she had been dishing out about the night to him the whole day, she looked happy. She looked incredible.

He couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Who is that?" Brandon interrupted his thoughts, leaning over slightly to look at his phone.

Seth cut a sharp look at his brother. "Can you keep yourself out of my business ever?"

"It's taking up the whole screen it's hard not to notice. She's kind of hot."

Seth sighed heavily, locking his phone and shifting it to the side.

"I'm aware."

Brandon chuckled, "so?"

"So what?"

Brandon shrugged slightly, "who is she?"

"We work together."

"Does she have a name?"

"Carter."

"Who was the dude?"

"Her brother."

"So she's single?"

"Brandon."

"Ok," Brandon rolled his eyes slightly and sighed heavily at his brother's short tone.

"What?" Seth asked, obviously annoyed with his brother.

"Nothing. Are you going to respond to her?"

Seth looked at him, "I will when you're not leaning over my shoulder like a teenage girl trying to read my conversation."

"Fuck you, you like her. That didn't take long at all." Brandon laughed, pausing the game from his controller and standing up from the couch, "I'm getting another drink, you want one?"

"Sure. And it's not like that. We talk but that's it. You can stop interrogating me any time now."

"So your dick pics aren't going to end up on the internet again?"

"You're a fucking asshole."

"I'm just making a point. I know this last whatever of yours _just_ left and that was a big fucking neon sign of a mistake, yeah? So I don't know if you're actually getting over her or not. And maybe you are just talking or just friends or whatever bullshit you want to tell me about Carter but…" Brandon came back into the living room and handed the bottle to Seth, "I saw the look on your face when you looked at that picture and I'm not an idiot."

Seth sighed, leaning back against the back of the couch. "I can't help that; she's beautiful. The company is nice, the friendship. She went through all of this a few years ago when she was in college, the surgery and recovery, and it's helped. It's helped a lot. That's it though. This really is different."

"Ok."

Seth studied his brother for a second and sat up again, "even if it wasn't, it's not exactly good timing for either of us. She's not a fan of wrestlers."

"Why did she get dicked over by one of you?"

"Don't put me in that category."

Brandon chuckled, "well if it was me I wouldn't take too long to respond to her. You'll hurt her feelings."

"She's at a party with her family."

"So?"

"So I'll talk to her later. I don't need any words of advice from you. Can you shut up about it now?"

Later came a few hours later. Brandon had left for the night and Seth had settled in on his couch, nursing the beer that was still left in the current long neck bottle in front of him and surfing mindlessly through the channels on his television.

He reached for his phone which had been mostly silent since his last text, with the exception of a few ESPN alerts. He returned to his text thread with Carter and sent her a hello to check in.

Carter was just walking in to her room when her phone sounded. She balanced on one foot, removing her shoe, and looked at her phone at the same time. She smiled at the simple 'Hi' from Seth.

 **Hello you.**

She tossed her phone on the bed and set to work on changing out of her party clothes in to her comfortable 'Christmas Eve on the couch clothes'.

She doubted that Jackson had managed to stay awake but she was going to check on him anyways since she had promised him hang out time and a movie.

She grabbed her phone and trekked down the hallway into the living room where the Christmas tree and the television were both located. Jackson was asleep on the couch and she smiled softly to herself. There was movement behind her and she looked over her shoulder to find her sister in law coming into the kitchen.

"Is he still asleep?"

"Looks like it."

"He said he was waiting for you and Santa," Megan smiled.

"Yeah I told him I would watch a movie with him. I'll get him to bed, go get some sleep Mrs. Claus."

Megan smiled and turned down the hallway, leaving Carter alone.

Carter headed for the oversized chair that was diagonal to the couch, snatching the remote from in front of Jackson on her way. She looked at her phone before tossing the remote onto the seat.

 **Sorry I didn't respond to you sooner I've been with Brandon. How did everything go tonight? You survived.**

 **Family comes first. Hope you had some good brotherly bonding time. Tonight was fine. I avoided my dad for most of it and I'm fairly sure that I got propositioned. So...success...**

It didn't take long for his response to come back. **What do you mean propositioned? Like a hooker?**

Carter chuckled. **I have some aunt duties to handle but I'll tell you about it. Call me in like 20 minutes...**

She tossed the phone on the seat with the remotes and turned to the couch to survey if she would be able to move Jackson without waking him.

She couldn't but she managed to get him awake and to his bed with only a few grumbles. She returned to the living room and settled in the chair, tossing the light blanket over herself and slipping through the channels to look for a movie or a TV show to watch.

Despite her slight buzz from the drinks she had at the party, she wasn't really sleepy, and the peace and quiet of the deserted living room and the glow of the Christmas tree was calming and comforting.

A few minutes had passed, long enough for her to settle on a movie, when her phone started vibrating on the arm of the chair. She glanced at it and then reached for it.

"Hello Rollins."

"Twenty minutes felt like kind of an odd amount of time so I went with thirty."

"Well I shouldn't be surprised that a man had trouble following directions," she dryly responded, getting a chuckle from him.

"I will try to do better next time. What kind of aunt duties did you have to do?"

"I promised one of my nephews before I left that I would watch a movie with him when we got back, he was sad he couldn't go with us, so he ended up falling asleep on the couch waiting on me. I told Megan I would get him in bed. Then I poured myself a glass of wine."

"Lush," he responded. "How old are they? There are two?"

"Yes; Jackson is 7 and Tyler just turned 12. I forgot I haven't really talked about them to you yet. You're lucky, I usually talk people's ears off about them. I guess it's because you're a guy..."

"What does being a guy have to do with it?"

"I don't know, I guess I just don't feel like gushing about my nephews to a dude. That's got to be some kind of faux paux."

"I like kids," he replied. "They don't always like me, though."

"Because they think you're really a bad guy?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, Jackson isn't a fan of you. Tyler is a big fan but Jackson isn't."

"Let me guess...he likes Cena?"

"To be fair, Nikki played a big part in that. She and Brie and John sent him some stuff and autographs for his last birthday. So they kind of bribed him but you know…"

"I'll have to send you something for them."

"You don't have to do that…"

"Nah it's fine, I don't have anything else to do right now and I am not above bribery."

"Well I would be the coolest aunt ever for that. I'm already pretty cool but that would seal the deal."

"Have you brought them to a show yet?"

"Not the kids but my brother has come to quite a few. He's a lifelong wrestling fan. My dad took us to a pay per view back in like 1995 and I have vivid memories of being put in the sharpshooter a few times after that. I think he lives vicariously through me now."

"Wait, 'us'? So you aren't a total newbie…"

"No."

"You worked me."

"I did no such thing."

"Oh? What happened to the 'let me pick your brain, Seth. Educate me'?" he mocked a girl's voice and she laughed, not missing the teasing tone to it.

"I never once said that I didn't have _any_ knowledge apart from what I've experienced the last couple of years. You assumed that. And yeah I wanted to learn stuff from you, from your view of things, not a fan's view. I've never gotten to sit down and have that kind of conversation and you really love all of it. I like listening to you talk."

"You dated a wrestler."

"We never really talked about wrestling unless he was bitching about creative."

"You're crafty."

Carter scoffed, "I am not."

"Well I'm on to you now; your game."

"What game?"

"That you're full of shit."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes despite him not being able to see her. "I'll let you have this round."

"So tell me about tonight, about being propositioned?"

Carter chuckled, "oh yes, that. Okay well, let me ask you this, what's the craziest thing you've ever said to a girl to try and pick her up? Like when you're out with your friends or Brandon…"

"I don't use pick up lines. Women throw themselves at me, remember?"

The sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable and she sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry that I insinuated that you're a vagina slayer, ok? You have to stop being offended by that. Take it as flattery."

Seth was mid drink and he started laughing, almost choking on the sip of beer he had just taken, and then he started coughing.

"Don't die," she laughed.

"Did you just call me a vagina slayer?"

"I did."

"Whatever you're drinking please continue because you're an absolute treasure right now," he continued laughing.

"Same to you, but seriously, what's your go-to line?"

"I don't use lines, seriously. Firstly you have to remember this is the first time in a long time that I've been single. Secondly you have to remember that I don't know how to do the whole sex symbol thing. I'm an idiot. I know music and wrestling and video games and I'm kind of an asshole. I don't...approach women."

"How do you meet them then?"

"They give me their phone number backstage at a house show...and I don't mean you. Although you did do that."

"Hmm, so you what you're saying is women _do_ throw themselves at you?"

"One, it's not plural."

"And you aren't an asshole, you have a little arrogance about you. You have charming moments. though."

"Well thank you. Where is this going?"

"So I went to the bar to get a drink tonight. My brother was schmoozing and I was bored so I figured I'd just slip away and get something other than champagne and there was this guy there in his tux and he was ordering a bourbon and he asked what I was drinking and I was like, whatever, free drink, I'll bite. So he got me a jack and Coke and he lays down a black credit card; a black fucking AMEX, and gives me this 'please be impressed by me' look and goes 'if you play your cards right tonight you could have your name on one of those'."

"Shut the fuck up."

"True story."

"Did you punch him in the face?"

"I gave him my number."

" _Carter._ "

"I didn't give him my number," she chuckled.

"Good! Jesus…"

"It was so gross. Like I just felt dirty. He put his hand on my back and was just…gross. I honestly think he would've been my sugar daddy had I been stupid enough to not be sleazed out by him."

"Just listening to that made me really uncomfortable."

"Well, unfortunately I have been in a handful of uncomfortable situations. That's part of a woman's world. It was fine, though. I walked away and I got a free drink out of it."

Seth sighed, Carter could pick up on it over the phone.

"That doesn't mean you'll always be able to just walk away. You…you just gotta be careful, C."

Carter smiled to herself and bit the inside of her lip.

"Rollins…"

"Hmm?"

"You don't have to worry over me. I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."

"I have no doubt that you're perfectly capable of doing so but that doesn't negate the fact that you're a little bit reckless. Just…I don't know, don't be reckless. Be smart; protect yourself. Don't travel alone over night and don't let douchebags buy you drinks."

"Well how much does it cost to hire you as a bodyguard?"

"I am slightly out of commission right now. Plus you don't have one of those black AMEX cards so I don't think you could afford me."

"Well I'm just screwed I guess." Carter shifted around in the seat, snuggling further under the blanket she had grabbed. "You would've punched him the face wouldn't you?"

Seth was quiet for a few seconds before responding, "had I been around and you told me that happened? Probably."

"Yeah? You got a temper on you?"

"I can. Sometimes."

"When is your birthday?"

"May 28."

"Oh you're a Gemini. That explains a lot."

"Do you really believe in that stuff?"

"I don't not believe in it. I don't put all my eggs in that basket but you have to admit some of it is eerily accurate. I'm a Leo, by the way, if you get curious."

"Duly noted."

Carter jumped, almost dropping her glass of wine and mentally thanking the universe that it was empty, and let out a string of curses when a stuffed bear landed in her lap, startling her from her conversation.

"You okay?" Seth asked.

"Yes," Carter responded, partially growling. She turned, throwing the bear back at her brother who was laughing in the doorway. "Santa Claus just showed up and scared the shit out of me."

"Ah…I guess you need to go be a good elf and help out."

"I probably should."

"Well, have fun. Uh, text me when you're done. I imagine I'll still be awake."

Carter glanced back at the entryway for her brother. He had back tracked into the kitchen, giving Carter some space to finish her conversation.

"I will. Don't sound so sad."

"Merry Christmas, Carter."

"Merry Christmas, Seth."

She dropped her hands to her lap as the call ended and she looked back at her brother who was back in the doorway.

"'Merry Christmas, Seth'" he mocked her. "That sounded _very friendly_ , Carps. Indeed."

"Shut up."

"Look at you, you're blushing."

"Do you want my help or not?"

"Yeah," he laughed, grinning. "Most of it is at the office, though, so we're taking a road trip."

"That's fine. Let me get some shoes on."

She untangled herself from the blanket and headed towards the hallway to her room. There was a slight smile on her face that she was determined to get rid of once she was back in the kitchen. She didn't want to hear her brother's shit right now. She was pulling her fuzzy boots from her bag when her phone vibrated on the bed.

She was trying to slide the shoes on as she picked up her phone to see if it was a text or an email and she paused.

It was a text from Seth.

 **I didn't get the chance to tell you this but you looked beautiful tonight. Say hey to Rudolph for me.**

Carter smiled and then sighed. Damn if he wasn't charming.


	5. Chapter 5

**Well this chapter isn't quite as long as my others have been BUT I felt like I covered what I needed/wanted to cover so that's ok :) I also want to say thank you, AGAIN and ALWAYS, to everyone that reads and reviews! Not just this story, but Reclaim, also. You guys absolutely rock!**

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A text tone interrupted the song that Carter and Becky Lynch were currently singing along to, most likely much louder than they needed to be, in Carter's Jeep. Carter was taking Becky back to the performance center to drop her off at her own car after they had gone out for a quick lunch after their workout.

"No!" Carter laughed as the song faded out and came back in. "I can't be bothered right now."

Becky threw a smile at Carter and reached for her friend's phone.

"Oh, it's from Seth!" Becky teased. "Wait, Seth! Like Seth- Seth? Our Seth?"

"Yes," Carter replied, reaching to take the phone from the orange haired girl's hand. "We've kept in touch while he's been out recovering."

"Oh, have you now?" Becky's voice was light and playful and thick with her accent.

"He's fun to talk to," Carter added.

She dropped the phone back in the cup holder, reminding herself to respond to him when she was stopped and had dropped Becky off.

"Okay well I can tell you don't want to talk about so we'll just back to the music…"

"This is why I love you the most, Becks."

Becky made a goofy face at her reached to turn the volume on the music back up.

Carter watched Becky bound towards her car and reached for her phone to check her message.

 **Hi you. What kind of busy bee things are you up to? Still with Becky?**

She smiled and quickly replied to him: **Just dropped Becky at the PC. I'm about to head home.**

She waited for a few moments, to see if he would respond, taking the time to flip through her Spotify and decide on a new playlist.

 **Don't text and drive. Let me know when you're home? Don't chat and drive either. Just drive.**

 **Can I car dance and drive?**

 **I wish I could see that…**

Carter bit the inside of her lip, trying not to smile, and felt a small blush creep onto her cheeks. He had a knack for sliding in little flirty comments that would make her stomach slightly swirl. She hated it and she loved it at the same time.

She settled on a playlist she and Renee would listen to on road trips to their next show and headed out of the parking lot, ready to jam out and car dance on her way home to Tampa. It was a gorgeous day, despite the fact it was about to be January 1 in a matter of hours.

That was one thing Carter loved so much about Florida; it could be sunny and 80 degrees in the dead of winter. She would always prefer sun and warmth over the cold.

The drive home and the fresh air, sunshine and good music did a lot to keep her in her good mood. She had a good meeting at the performance center that morning, a really good workout, and a really good, fun lunch with Becky. It was New Year's Eve and she just wanted the happiness and good mood to continue.

There was a box on her front patio that she could see when she pulled in to her driveway. She cocked her head slightly, studying it from her car, trying to remember if she had ordered anything.

Oh god, that's from Seth! Popped into her head and she smiled, turning off the car and heading towards the package.

He had asked for her address the day after Christmas, she assumed to send along whatever he had in his head he should send to her nephews. She smiled brightly as she read the address scribbled across it and unlocked her door, using her foot to shove the box inside.

She discarded her bag next to small table near her doorway and dropped her keys on it, heading to the kitchen for her scissors to find out what was inside the box.

She picked up her phone when she returned and quickly put a call through to him.

"You better be home and not still driving," he said sternly, answering the phone.

"Are you really trying to tell me that you stay 100% focused on just driving when you're in your car- no music, no texts, no phone calls? And I am home, you old man. I'm looking at a box that was delivered to me from middle of nowhere, midwest America."

"Davenport is not the middle of nowhere."

"What else do you have in Davenport besides corn?"

"I'm sorry but you're from Tennessee, you don't have much room to talk."

"Nashville is vastly different than Davenport, let's be truthful here, Rollins."

"I'm not going to argue about this with you, we've been here before. It's my home so stop being a hater. Did you open it yet?"

"No, I called you first," she replied, cradling her phone on her shoulder and dropping to her knees to cut the tape and look inside. "I'm assuming this is your bribery material to win over my nephew's affections?"

"Look, I don't even know if I'll be back in a ring right now so I have to keep myself in people's minds somehow..."

"Seth, stop it. Seriously, you just got out of your brace. You're going to be back."

"Ok, Car."

"You really depress me sometimes."

"It's that fucking country music you made me listen to."

She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes, "you irritate me, too."

She could hear him laughing through the receiver and she smiled before she set the phone down on the floor next to her and put him on speaker.

"Jesus, Rollins...did you send me the entire WWE merchandise shop?"

"I have a lot of things laying around. I had a moment when Zahra left and I went through everything, took everything off the walls, just..."he paused for a second, searching for a word, "cleaned everything up. Some of those shirts are a couple years old and they're probably too big but they're signed. There are pictures, some hats, some belts and some Black and Brave stuff- for you."

"Seth you didn't have to do this," she said sweetly, "seriously...you-"

"I wanted to," he interrupted her. "It's helps me out and it helps you become an even cooler aunt than you already are, or claim to be, so it's fine."

"Well thank you; this is great, and super sweet, and they'll be ecstatic."

"I know you have your own access to stuff but if you want or need anything else, just ask."

Carter chuckled, "ah, I don't know how to ask for things, but I'll keep that in mind. You're not a bad guy at all, Rollins."

"Don't let that get out," he sarcastically replied. "Do you have any New Year's plans?"

"No," she replied, trying her best to reorganize the items in the box and closing the lid up again, pushing it to the side against the wall.

"No?"

"No."

"Wh...but it's...a new year. You can't just not do anything."

"I'm not a big party person."

He snickered, "um, right, because you don't drink or go out with the girls and get into Brie Mode or anything. I'm sorry, I forgot about that."

"Your sarcasm just oozes out of you," she countered, sighing. "I like to enjoy myself with close friends but I'm not a party person."

"No, no, there's more to this. Either you didn't get invited anywhere, which I seriously doubt, or you turned down 5 different guys for a date tonight and don't want to run in to anyone or something...I'm not buying this 'I don't party' bullshit."

"I'm a homebody, Seth. I watch movies and drink tea or wine and just...relax."

"Bullshit."

"I'm serious!"

" _Bull – shit._ "

"Fine!" She huffed. At this point she had made it to her kitchen and was taking her water bottle and other things out of her bag so she could throw it in with laundry and clean up what she needed to clean up. "Nikki and John are out of town, the other girls are out of town, Becky and Ferg are going out and I did get invited to a big party with some other of our people that live around here but Nick is hosting it so I decided it wasn't a great idea for me to make an appearance there. I would end up drunk off of champagne jello shooters and throw things at him or something...especially if she is with him."

Seth chuckled lightly, "I'm picturing a very angry you throwing your shoes at him in the middle of his house and it's pretty entertaining. It's kind of..."

"Stop," she interrupted him. "So I just decided I was going to stay home tonight. I'm going to order food that's really bad for me and drink some champagne and watch movies and the twilight zone."

"That sounds really sad."

"Thank you for making me feel good about it."

"No! I'm sorry. I wasn't...trying to make you feel bad, it's just...it's New Years..."

"I wouldn't have pegged you for the type to make a big deal out of this holiday. I would have guessed you were the 'it's just another day' kind of guy."

"Well I have a lot of reasons to be happy this year is over and that a new one is starting."

"New year, new you!" She teased him. "What are you doing tonight, then?"

"Some of my friends I grew up with are having a party, Brandon will be there too, nothing fancy. I don't think you can even really call it a party."

"I'm sure it'll be a-" Carter's phone made a beeping noise and she frowned, looking at the screen. "Ah shit, hold on that's my mom."

"Just call me back later," he said.

"I will."

Carter's conversation with her mom had ended up being one of those long, drawn out conversations about nothing important that lasts a lot longer than anticipated. By the time she had hung it had been well over an hour and she hadn't done anything other than lay on her couch.

She plugged her phone up to charge and busied herself with doing dishes and laundry and showering. She finally settled back on her couch, surfing through the channels to see what movies were on that night.

She heard a text alert from her kitchen and her eyes widened.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck I forgot to call him back…" she mumbled to herself as she hurried to the kitchen.

She grabbed her phone, eyeing the text she had received from Renee and then sent one to Seth.

 **So I kind of forgot about you…I'm sorry!**

She followed up the text with a row of sad face emojis.

 **That's a real blow to my ego.**

 **I'M SORRY!**

 **It's fine I'm headed out to dinner. Try to keep yourself out of trouble tonight.**

 **Same to you. Be safe.**

She left her phone charging on her counter top in the kitchen and sauntered back into the living room. Time to get her exciting night started. First thing was first; what did she want to eat?

Carter's eyes fluttered open and as she blinked she could swear she heard her phone ringing. The sound of her 'Everlong' by the Foo Fighters ringtone was faint but she was definitely hearing it. She started feeling around in the blanket she was snuggled under and finally felt her fingers brush against the device wedged between the couch cushion and the side of the couch. She must have been sleeping hard.

She pulled the phone out and looked at the screen. Well, it wasn't midnight yet so she hadn't missed that, and her phone call had been from Seth. She made a face, scrunching up her nose and yawned. She needed coffee.

Her phone started ringing again and this time she answered it.

"Hi."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I was asleep. Your call woke me up and then I couldn't find my phone."

Seth chuckled, "and here I was worrying about you and you've just been asleep. You're lame, Car."

"I had a really long day," she defended. "And why in the world were you worried? And what are you doing? I thought you had a party to go schmooze at."

"I did, I do; I'm still here. I…" he stopped for a moment, silence coming from his end of the phone.

"Are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah I just, um…I was keeping an eye on the time. It's almost midnight in Florida and I just didn't want you to celebrate New Year's alone. I thought I could at least call and I don't know- wish you a happy twenty sixteen when it got here."

Carter sat up on the couch at his words, crossing her legs Indian style, and bit her lip. She could feel a light sting of tears and she shook her head, chasing it away.

"It all sounded way less pathetic in my head," he added.

"No, Seth, that's really sweet of you. I haven't even heard from anyone else yet…"

"Maybe they text you while you were dozing."

"Could be. How is your party?"

"It's fine. It's nothing crazy. There are maybe 10 of us here."

"I don't want to keep you from them. I'm good. I'm just going to restart my movie and probably go back to sleep, honestly. I was awake at five and I had nachos and a burrito and a bottle of wine for dinner and it put me in a coma."

"A whole bottle?"

"Most of it," she chuckled.

"Nachos and a burrito?"

"Don't judge me. It's New Years."

"Hey, there is no judgment coming from me. You do you, sunshine. You have to talk to me for at least four more minutes though and then you can go back to sleep."

"Are you at least having fun at your 'not a party'?"

"It's been good to spend some time with everyone although I haven't exactly enjoyed the trips down memory lane. I was such an idiot in high school."

"We were all idiots in high school. I was in the show choir. I can jazz hands circles around you."

"I would concede that to you in a heartbeat. I will never, ever, do jazz hands."

"Never say never," she smiled as she replied to him.

"Hey, I had something I wanted to talk to you about earlier but you forgot about me, so...it got tabled."

"I'm so sorry that I did that. I got caught up talking to my mom and then I started cleaning and doing laundry and I just-"

"Forgot about me, it's ok. I was bruised for a few minutes but I carried on."

"Thank you for being understanding. What did you want to talk to me about? I feel like I'm about to be in trouble." She was untangling herself from the couch and blanket as she spoke, intending to head into the kitchen and fix a cup of coffee.

"So I'm going to be in town this week, well Orlando, at least. I have a check in with the doctors and I'm going to do some stuff at the performance center. I know you'll be on the road Monday and Tuesday but would you want to do something on Sunday?"

"I'm leaving on Sunday," she replied.

"Oh."

"What time are you supposed to get here, though?"

"Nine something, I would have to look."

"I don't have to be at the airport until two-ish so I can do lunch or brunch. There's a place near the performance center that makes the most ridiculous bloody mary's and they have chocolate covered maple bacon."

"You sold me at chocolate covered maple bacon. I'm in."

"Ok," she replied.

"Ok."

She was watching the stream of coffee pouring into her mug in her Keurig when she heard the sound of fireworks and her head and eyes darted to the glass double doors that led to her patio. She headed over to them, smiling, looking out at the distant ocean and fireworks erupting above it.

"I guess it's midnight," she said.

There was a slight pause before his response, she guessed he was probably checking the time on his phone, "it is."

"Well Happy New Year, Rollins."

"Happy New Years. Don't sound so sad, please?"

"Go get back to your 'not a party' now, enjoy your friends while you're able to be home and enjoy them. Thank you for thinking of me."

"Of course," he replied.

She ended their call by telling him to let her know his flight details and they could hammer out plans for Sunday. She almost pushed him off the phone, but he couldn't really hold it against her. He got it. He slipped his phone into the pocket of his coat and quickly downed what he had been nursing in his bottle of beer.

"The fuck are you doing out here? You do know it's like 20 degrees don't you?"

Seth cast his eyes up at the sky, sighing heavily and turning to look at his brother.

"I was on the phone."

Brandon laughed, "of course you were."

"Don't," Seth pointed at him, giving him a stern look. "I'm not listening to it tonight."

"I didn't say anything."

"Keep it that way."


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm so excited because we're finally approaching Mania! Thank you all for reading this story as well as Reclaim! It's been a blast writing them!**

* * *

Carter felt her phone vibrating through the countertop she was sitting on and she glanced at it, furrowing her eyebrows at Seth's name on her screen. He didn't usually call her out of the blue.

She paused for a second before she slid her finger across the screen to answer the call.

"Hi you," she greeted him.

"Hey," he responded.

Carter's face formed into a frown. He didn't sound good.

There was a brief moment of silence that passed between them on the phone. She took a sip of her beer and shifted, crossing her legs. She was taking a few days from being off the road and spending some time with Renee in Vegas. Renee was currently showering and getting herself ready for their evening out so Carter was taking a moment to relax and pre-game; at least until the shower was unoccupied and the hot water had been restored. She was sitting on the counter top in Renee's kitchen, sipping a cold drink, and taking in the view through the large windows in the kitchen.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Nothing really, I just got done at the performance center. I was thinking you were at home in Tampa and I remembered a few rings in that you're in Sin City right now..."

"Yeah I'm here until Sunday."

"Did I interrupt your Renee time?"

"No, you didn't. She's in the shower and I'm sitting in the kitchen drinking a beer while I wait my turn."

"Big plans tonight?"

"We're going to dinner with her dad but I don't think we'll get into any trouble. Once you've been here a couple of time the awe of all of it kind of wears off. It's just another city where my best girl lives."

His response was a barely audible 'ah' which was mostly just an acknowledgement that she had spoken and he was aware that she had spoken. She took another sip of her beer, waiting to see if he would say anything else.

"I think we may take a crack at getting on the stripper pole, too. You know, when in Vegas..."

There was silence.

"Seth, are you okay?"

He was quiet for another moment and she heard him sigh loudly, "The doctor won't clear me to get back in the ring yet."

"Then you aren't ready to get back in the ring yet, pumpkin..."

"I am ready. I know I'm ready. I know my body better than anybody else and I know what I can do and what I can't do and I'm ready."

"Seth..."

"Seriously Carter, I need someone on my team right now. So please don't try and argue with me. I already had Cena give me a lecture."

She licked her lips and inhaled, taking a pause. "I'm always going to be on your team."

"But?"

"But if the doctor is telling you that your knee isn't ready for you to get back in the ring, he's telling you that for a reason. You know your body and you know wrestling but he knows knees." She heard him groan and she rolled her eyes. "Are you just frustrated or are you _really_ sure that you're ready? Are you ready to jump off the top rope? Are you ready to suicide dive through the ropes or knee somebody? Are you ready to Pedigree someone?"

He was silent in response to her questions.

"I know it's frustrating, Seth."

"Do you? _Do_ you know how frustrating it is? Do you know what it's like to go through an entire work out and feel perfectly fine and still get told that you aren't ready? Do you know how fucking irritating it is to sit back and be on the outside looking in at your whole world and not being able to be _in_ it?"

"Yes I do, actually, and it took me a hell of a lot longer to get to that point than it has you. I get it."

"I know, I'm sorry," he replied sullenly.

"What did he tell you, exactly?"

"I don't have the strength or the stamina back yet, my balance isn't good enough, and until then I can't do anything functional. I can't step foot in a ring. I can't do anything but keep doing the same fucking things I've been doing for four months and I probably won't be able to for another month."

"A month isn't that long..." She tried to say sweetly, offering him some consolation.

"Carter, a month means I miss Mania."

Carter closed her eyes, wincing, realizing that WrestleMania was just around the corner and the news that he had been given that day shattered every goal he had set for himself.

"Seth, I'm sorry."

"That's been my only point of focus this whole time; every day. Every ounce of pain I've had to deal with, all of this bullshit, I just kept thinking- it's for Mania. You're gonna be there. You're gonna make a triumphant return. That's _all_ that I thought about. And I didn't do it. I'm not going to be there. I walked out of there as the fucking champion last year and this year I'm just a cliff note. What…why did I put in all this work if it isn't going to amount to anything?"

She heard him take a deep breath, catching the crack in his voice as he had spoken and she could tell he was crying; probably out of raw emotion and out of anger. She couldn't invalidate anything he said. From the very start all he had talked about was WrestleMania. She couldn't even start to imagine what it felt like for him to know he was going to be sitting on the sidelines this year.

She wasn't going to say anything. She was just going to let him have his moment.

"Fuck this is bullshit," he finally muttered. "Fuck!"

Carter frowned, inhaling deeply and trying to rack her brain for something to say that might actually make him feel better. She knew him, though, and she doubted anything she said would really make him feel better.

"I'm not sure I can do it, Carter..." He said. She could hear him breathe in, trying to calm himself. "I don't know if I can be there."

"You have to be there," she replied softly.

"Do I? Do they really need me to be there?"

" _They_ may not...but your fans will want to see you and all of us want to see you."

"That whole world has kept functioning without me."

"Don't...do that, don't be self deprecating, you're better than that. Yeah things have gone on functioning without you because they have to, it's a business, but that doesn't mean people haven't missed you. I would at least like to see you."

"So come up to Davenport."

"I have to work," she smiled, chuckling. "Nikki is going to be there and she's in a neck brace, she can't wrestle either, you two can commiserate together- and it's Brie's last match ever, and there's a women's triple threat and they're announcing a new title...you can't just not be there. You're still a part of everything and I guarantee you at some point that whole damn stadium is going to start a Rollins chant because everyone is excited about you coming back. Do you want to miss that? So you didn't make Mania- you'll make the next show...and it'll be fucking awesome."

"I appreciate the pep talk," he responded.

She sighed, picking up on the tone in his voice. She wasn't going to be able to get him out of this mood.

"Look, don't come if it's really that hard for you. I get it. If you want my friendly advice though, it's to come and be there and be in that moment, because I know you'll feel shitty but at least you'll be there and you won't have that to regret. You _will_ regret it if you aren't there, Seth."

"I just don't know if I can do it, C."

"Don't come for the whole week, then; show up on Saturday, sign some autographs, watch the NXT show and watch Mania and then leave."

"Maybe."

A silence fell between them and she shook her head. She hurt _for_ him.

"Maybe you should call Bryan..."

"What?"

"I know you have his number, you two were close."

"Yeah, I looked up to him a lot. I love that dude. But...why are you telling me to call him now? Out of the blue? I talked to him when he made his announcement."

"I know, I remember. I just...he's not doing really well. He and Brie aren't really talking about it but he's struggling a lot with not being able to wrestle anymore. He can't even travel, he can't even _be_ at Mania to see Brie have her last match or experience everything."

"Don't try and guilt trip me, please? That's not fair."

"I'm not," she defended. "I'm not; I promise I'm not trying to do that. But I think that maybe talking to him might help you some and I don't know...maybe you'll help him out, too. And don't give me that exasperated, huffy, sigh, I'm serious."

He cleared his throat and she could hear a sniff, "you weren't supposed to hear my exasperated, huffy sigh."

"Well I did, and you called me, remember? So you're stuck with listening to what I say."

"I could just hang up on you."

"You won't, though." There was silence in response from him and Carter smiled slightly to herself. She could picture the slightly irritated but slightly amused look on his face. It was a look she had gotten from him a couple of time when she had seen him in Florida. She was fairly certain he was just trying not to give her the satisfaction of confirming she was right. "I just…I know what it was like for me and I can try and talk you down from your ledge from that point of view until I'm blue in the face but I've never been at Mania. I've never stood in that ring. I sure as hell haven't been a World Heavy Weight Champion. I don't completely know what it's like for you other than I know you're mad and frustrated and sad and that it really fucking sucks. And I love that you come to me to vent or for advice but I don't know that I'm going to be helpful in this situation- so that's my suggestion for you."

Renee came bounding into the room, "the shower is yours, madam! And it is my duty as your best friend to remind you to shave because you just might get lucky tonight because this is Vegas. And nobody likes a fur…."

Renee cut herself off and stopped in her tracks as she stepped onto the tile of the kitchen and realized that Carter was on the phone and also that Carter was shooting daggers at her.

Renee's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly as she tried not to laugh. "Oh my god! Fuck! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

Carter flipped her off and looked around for something to lob in her friend's direction as she listened to Seth laugh on the other end of the phone call.

Renee was stifling her laughter as she moved closer to Carter to find out who she was talking to.

"You can stop laughing any time now…" Carter dryly mumbled and swatted at Renee who was trying to pull the phone away from her ear to see the name on her screen.

"Oh fuck, I didn't expect to ever hear something like that. Is that something that girls really remind each other? Is that like a she-wolf pack thing?"

"No, Renee is just an inappropriate twat."

"Hey!" Renee exclaimed.

Carter could feel a blush starting to rise on her cheeks as she laughed at the offended look Renee was giving her. "You're so embarrassing," Carter mumbled at Renee, trying to keep it away from the receiver.

"Well hey, go get ready for your big night out even though you supposedly didn't have any big plans," Seth said, " I wouldn't want you to lose valuable prep time by talking to me since you just might get lucky tonight…"

She rolled her eyes and made a low, irritated noise.

"Now who's making the huffy, exasperated sighs?"

"Goodbye, Seth," she said sternly, cutting a look at Renee. Renee grinned back at her.

"Goodby; uh…thank you, for listening to me. I know you don't think you're any help but you are. I promise you that."

"Anytime."

"Ok, have fun, sunshine, be safe."

Carter dropped the phone from her ear as she heard the sounds from the call disconnecting. She glared at Renee and threw her hands in the air, "what the fuck, Nae?"

"I'm sorry I didn't know you were on the phone!" she responded, still laughing. "Was that like Rollins 'Seth'?"

"Yes, it was. He's having a bad night; he's going to miss Mania."

"Oh shit, that sucks. Damn…"

"Yeah he didn't sound good. He's on the 'I don't even want to come' path at the moment but I think he should at least be there. But what do I know?"

"You know enough that he trusts you to go to with that."

"He was in his car at the performance center, I'm pretty sure I was the first person he called. I feel bad for him; he's been killing himself trying to get back."

"He'll be alright, he's Seth. He probably just needs to sleep on the news and he'll be ready to set his next goal tomorrow. You know how he is. I do hate that for him, though. Fuck, Dean is going to hate it, too. Mania isn't going to be the same this year...for any of us..."

"Yeah, exactly, but thanks to you he got a good laugh at my expense, so well done."

"I am all about action, Carter, I make things happen. You are welcome."

Carter aggressively rolled her eyes as she slid off the counter. She grabbed her drink and turned a look on Renee, "I'm sorry I called you an inappropriate twat but…you kind of deserved it."

"I did," Renee laughed, "I'm sorry I kind of embarrassed you in front of him. You guys still just friends?"

"Yes."

"Well then you technically shouldn't have anything to be embarrassed by since you're just friendly…"

"Walking away now…"

"I bet he's getting laid!" Renee called as Carter disappeared further into the house.

"Inappropriate!" Carter yelled back.


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope you all have a VERY Merry Christmas! Happy reading!**

* * *

Carter was standing next to Becky as they watched the NXT show the night before Wrestlemania. They were huddled off to the side, hidden in the dark and shadows in the back of the arena, with a handful of other superstars that were there to watch the show. Everyone wanted to give the younger talent their support. It was also a way to get their minds off of the fact that their biggest pay per view of the year was the next morning.

She reached for her phone that she had tucked into the top of her boots since she didn't have a pocket to put it in and she frowned to herself at the blank screen. Seth had gotten there that morning and apart from him telling her that he had landed and was headed to the hotel; she hadn't heard a peep from him and she was very close to tipping over the edge of being annoyed with him.

She knew this was a tough weekend for him and she knew that more than any other time he was probably going to be moody. She knew he was busy and he had to cram a lot of work related things into the 48 hours he was going to be there. He could at least manage to respond to her and her offers to grab dinner or a drink or breakfast.

Becky glanced over at her friend and nudged her with her arm, "you okay?"

"I'm irritated but I'm fine," Carter replied with a shrug. "Seth has decided to go MIA and it just…it annoys me."

"Were you supposed to hang out?"

"Yeah we had talked about it but it's like he got here and he just went completely radio silent. I get it, it's Mania weekend, we're all busy and we're stressed out and I know he's in this little black hole about the whole situation but he could at least say something. Like 'hey, C, thanks for the breakfast invite but I'm just not up to it. I'll see you at the show.'" Carter folded her arms across herself after she returned her phone to her boot. "We talk almost every day, you know? We hung out in Florida. So why do this now?"

"Because men are morons," Becky replied and offered her friend a shrug and small smile.

Carter chuckled, "yeah I think moron is understatement most of the time. Although, it's not that you have any right to talk because Ferg is perfection."

"Oh if you think he's perfect you're welcome to come live with him for a week and get back to me on that."

"I'm lonely, Becks, don't tempt me with that."

Becky gave her friend an amused look and then reached out to give her a one arm hug. She added a little extra squeeze and laughed, "I would gladly share him with you- any time."

"Thank you," Carter shared her laugh, "I'll let you know when I get that desperate. I'm going to go grab some tea, I'll be back."

Becky gave her a nod and glanced at her briefly before turning her attention back to the ring.

Carter bit her lip and turned on her heel to disappear through the curtains and make her way to the catering area. Her mind was wandering as she walked and she wasn't really paying attention to anything other than the floor ahead of her. Knowing her current luck she would fail to pay attention and trip over something and make a scene in front of God and everyone in the arena.

Truthfully, she felt, she was mostly annoyed with Seth because she was in her own bad mood and it was easiest to just deflect it on him. Her Mania week hadn't really been stellar and she was trying to be grateful and just happy she was there and that she was going to be able to support Brie; but it was hard to let her frustrations slip away completely.

Did she have a right to be annoyed with him? Yes. Did it need to be as much as it was? Probably not.

She sighed to herself and ran her fingers through her long hair and then collected it in both hands, forming a ponytail that she let fall over her shoulder. She glanced to the side of the curtain as she got to it and paused when she saw Seth.

 _Oh_ , she thought to herself.

His eyes were on her, his gaze locked with hers as soon as she had spotted him and he gave her a soft smile. She didn't return the smile and it only took a couple of seconds for that to register with him. She watched his smile fade and picked up on the motion that he was about to move and approach her.

She rolled her eyes slightly and licked her lips, breaking her eye contact with him, and continued through the curtain before he had the time to move and approach her.

 _Never mind everything you just told yourself, Car. He absolutely deserves it._

He was standing next to the curtains when she walked back in, almost directly in her pathway to get back to Becky, and there was no way she could avoid him. She didn't _need_ to avoid him and she knew that but the fact that she had turned around and seen him there bothered her.

She stopped next to him and sipped her tea without speaking.

They stood side by side for a few minutes, in silence, watching the match that was unfolding in front of them.

"You're mad at me," he stated.

"I wasn't."

"You weren't?"

"No, I wasn't, and then I turned around and saw you standing five feet behind me and that changed."

"Well fuck…" he mumbled.

"You don't have to _ignore_ me, you know? It's not going to hurt my feelings if you tell me you just want Seth time; I get that, but say that. We've talked about this before."

"I have had a really hectic day. It's been slightly overwhelming."

"Seeing as how you're standing here, watching this show, it hasn't been _that_ hectic."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"I'm glad you're sorry," she replied coolly.

"Well will you at least let me explain? Does the dinner or drink or breakfast offer still stand?"

"Sure but for now I'm going to enjoy the rest of this show; find me after," She looked at him for a moment and then sighed to herself before moving to return to her spot next to Becky.

Finding her after the show had proven to be a little bit more difficult than he had expected. It didn't really make sense to him since backstage was such a small area. Had she disappeared on him, now? It didn't help that he had been pulled in several different directions to say hello to people that he hadn't seen in several months.

He had finally spotted her sharing a quick word with Bayley and Becky, giving them a small smile and then turning to head towards the doors that led to the parking garage. He watched her face change as soon as she stepped away from the girls and he couldn't help but wonder if it was her anger with him that was causing it or if she was having a bad day herself.

He slipped by the people that were standing around in the hallway and made his way through the double doors that she had just disappeared through. She wasn't too far ahead of him and he called out her name.

Carter stopped walking and he could see her shoulders rise and fall with a sigh and then she turned around to look at him. Her mouth was tight and she studied him as he closed the distance between them, arms folded across her chest.

"You know, it's really not very nice to tell me to 'find me after' and then _you_ run away. You also seem to have a thing for making me chase you which also isn't very nice seeing as how I just had knee surgery."

"Well coming from someone that swore to me a hundred times a few weeks ago that you were ready to get back in the ring, chasing me shouldn't be much of a problem."

"It wasn't a hundred times, it was maybe five, ten tops."

She didn't crack a smile and he realized pretty quickly that his usual sharp tongue and sarcasm wasn't going to work on her in that moment.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm great."

His eyebrows rose, very clearly not believing the dry response that had just come out of her mouth.

"Are you really?" he asked again.

She sighed and glanced around the parking garage before locking her gaze back with his. "No, I haven't really been having a great day and it's progressively gotten worse. I want to go back to the hotel and go to bed."

"Well at least tomorrow you'll be waking up to Mania," he smiled, mentally urging her to smile, too.

"I guess."

"Carter, come on. You've been like a little kid on Christmas for at least a week talking about how excited you were for Mania. It's your first. You can't be grumpy…"

"You're the only one allowed to be grumpy, I guess?"

"Hey, I'm not grumpy."

It was her turn to raise her eyebrows at him, not believing what he was saying.

"You've been grumpy since the first day we spoke," she responded.

He sighed and buried his hands in his pockets. "Will you talk to me, please? Whatever it is that's going on, that has you in _this_ mood…just, talk to me."

"I've been trying to talk to you, Seth. I've been trying to talk to you all fucking day and you haven't been there. And don't give me the "things have been hectic" line again because they haven't been _that_ hectic. You had time to stand in there and watch that show. How long were you in there before I saw you? How long did you stand there and know it was me and not say anything? I get that these two days are busy for you but don't throw out a line for someone to see you if you aren't going to follow through with it."

"Carter, I'm sorry. I got into a hole about all of this and I know that you've been texting me and yeah, I did know that was you standing in front of me. I…I definitely knew that was you standing in front of me. I should've spoken."

She made a soft noise at his statement.

"But I'm here now, and I'm apologizing, and I'm asking you what's wrong aside from the obvious…"

"You're here now because you got caught," she replied. She shifted her weight from one foot to another and shook her head. "I always pick up my phone for you; always. I offered up my friendship and I've been your friend and maybe I'm just…maybe I'm just too big of a person, maybe I'm stupid for expecting the same from other people. You know, maybe that's my fault. Maybe you're just selfish and you live in your own little Seth Rollins/Colby Lopez world; I don't know. I know I want to go to my room and I want to sleep this off and tomorrow I will be back to being peppy, helpful Carter."

"Okay," he responded meekly. He swallowed hard and sighed, "be careful going back to the hotel. Are you on your own or are you with one of the girls?"

"I'm on my own."

"Well be safe."

"I can handle it."

He rubbed the back of his neck and frowned at her. He was clearly frustrated and wounded. "If you decide that you still want to talk to me, you know how to find me. I'm still up for breakfast…"

He shrugged and she nodded, biting her lip.

"Thank you," she said. She cut another look at him and then turned to continue on her way to her rental car.

Seth's phone vibrated in his pocket as he entered his hotel room. He had just gotten back from the NXT show and he was ready to crawl into his bed and go to sleep. It had been a tiring day and it didn't help that after Carter walked away from him he had gotten sucked back into saying hello and small talking with everyone that wanted to say hi to him. He should have just left when she did instead of getting stuck there.

He looked at his phone and let out an audible 'oh' when he saw the text on his screen.

 **Does you offer to talk still stand?**

 **Of course it does.  
I just got back to my room can I call you in a few minutes?**

He responded to Carter and set about to kicking his shoes off and changing his clothes. He heard his phone vibrate on the desk he had discarded it on. He assumed, or hoped, that it was her saying it was fine for him to call when he was free.

He crossed back across his room after swapping his jeans for shorts, looked at his phone and then called Carter.

"Hi," she said when she picked up after a few rings.

"Hi sunshine."

"I'm not much of a sunshine today. I'm more of a black hole of bitchiness," she responded.

He cracked a smile and chuckled quietly, "it happens to the best of us."

"Well, I might as well get it out of the way and tell you that I'm sorry for biting your head off. I'm still mad at you but I shouldn't have…I should have given you a chance to…I'm just sorry, ok?"

"I'm sorry, too."

"Hmm."

"You were right that you're always there for me and I didn't return that to you today. I do have a tendency to be a little selfish sometimes, thank you for the reminder, and sometimes I have to be snapped out of it."

"Yeah, I was warned that you were selfish…" she muttered.

"Seriously? By who?"

"Dean…"

"Wow. _Really_?"

"Yeah, it…it wasn't in a mean way. He wasn't trying to…talk shit about you or anything. Dean is Dean, he's your brother, he loves you…but he just told me that you have a little bit of a tendency to be self absorbed so I shouldn't be surprised by it. That you don't usually know you're doing it; it's just…you. To be fair, I haven't really seen that in you very much…"

"Well that's good to know," he mumbled.

"I haven't really noticed a lot of the things in you that I've heard about you from backstage gossip. Either people don't know you or you've changed."

"I think it's probably safe to say that people don't really know me. But almost seeing your career and dreams and life disappear tends to change someone a little bit so it may be like 90/10 on that."

"Understandable."

"Part of me wants to know what you've heard about me and what people think about me but the bigger part of me doesn't want to know that."

"Everyone loves you," she replied.

"Right; why haven't you brought this up before?"

"I didn't feel a need to bring it up."

They were silent for a few moments and Carter could tell he was letting her comments swirl around in his mind.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm sitting in my room eating pork dumplings and watching hockey."

"Where did you find Chinese food?"

"In the 'hotel information' folder on my desk; there was a menu, I called them, and they delivered it to me."

He turned around and looked at the desk in his room and flipped open the three ring notebook with the basic hotel information in it. He went from cover to cover and didn't find anything.

"I don't have one of those."

"Maybe it was just meant to be for me, then. Thank you to whoever formerly occupied this room." She smiled to herself and laughed lightly, "I can text you the number if you really want it. You sounded really disappointed."

"I am, a little. Please do." He sat down on the edge of his bed and reached for the remote for the TV. "So are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Are you?"

"You know what was wrong with me," he retorted. "Just being around everyone and seeing the fans and getting asked a million times if I was going to show up tomorrow night or how the rehab was going or when I was coming back; it was tough, especially since I don't really have those answers. I know it didn't give me an excuse to be an ass but…it was just easier for me to be on my own and let it soak in."

"You could've told me that."

"Next time I will."

"I got booted off the pre show," she said abruptly. "They're going to put Amy on the pre show since she's making the announcement about the new women's title."

"So what are you going to do then?"

"Nothing."

"You got benched at your first Wrestlemania…" Seth commented.

"I'm going to go down to the ring and watch Brie's last match and I'm going to celebrate a little with the girls after and then I'll be right there with you, in the suite, watching the show."

"We're pretty close to Vegas…you can call in a hit on Renee or Lita and then they'll have to put you back on the show."

"As tempting as that is, I would like to keep my record and my conscience clean."

"I'm sorry, Carter. I know you were really excited about tomorrow…"

"I just don't really know what exactly I'm doing here."

"You're hosting panels, and doing interviews, and blowing up Instagram and twitter with pictures and behind the scenes stuff and saying hi to _your_ fans and taking in everything."

"Yeah well there are other people that can do that."

"Hey, putting Lita in your place is not a reflection of _you_ , Car. It's Vince and that's just how he is. I know it sucks. I _know_ that it sucks- being on the sideline is the worst. But Monday night things will go back to normal and you'll be back backstage, doing your thing, and…next year that preshow will be _all_ you."

Carter was silent in response to him and after a brief moment he started laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" she questioned.

"Oh god, is this what I've been like the last 4 months?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"I'm so sorry that you've had to deal with me. I mean…shit; I'm not trying to discredit your mood and your feelings, Car. I understand it and I get it- if I had a match that got bumped, I would be upset about it too. I know you've been all over the place this week and you've been killing yourself so it makes it sting even more. I just meant…I know I always try to beat myself up and throw myself under the bus and you never let me and I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

"We're a lot alike, Rollins, as much as I hate admitting that. I'm the better looking out of the two of us, though."

"I won't argue that."

She sighed loudly and chuckled, "I guess I did pull a 'you', huh?"

"You didn't cry though, so hey, you're one up on me."

"I'm going to tell the whole world that I heard you cry."

"Don't test me, Kelly."

"I should go to bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. Thank you for letting me vent and…letting me bitch you out."

"I was slightly deserving of it but you're welcome. Get some sleep, try and cheer up; there's always a chance something will change tomorrow and you won't be up in the suite with the rest of us peasants."

"Do you still want to get breakfast?"

"Yeah, just text me when you're up, wake me up if you have to, I'll come meet you in the lobby."

"Ok, but I'm going to have a bloody mary and I expect you to keep your mouth shut about it."

"My lips will be sealed."

"Goodnight, Seth."

"Send me the Chinese food phone number!"

He caught her giving him a 'yeah, yeah' before he heard the beeps signaling that she had hung up. He chuckled and smiled and his smile grew a little bigger when her text came through with the phone number.

 **Thank you.** He responded to her text.

 **Ask for extra soy sauce if you drown your food in it like I do. They shorted me the bastards.  
Also you're paying for breakfast…you owe me for being kind of an ass today.**

 **Deal.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I thought about it for awhile and I decided that I needed to add ONE MORE chapter to this story to kind of wrap things up and tie everything together in this Carter & Seth/Colby saga. SO for those of you who have been having withdrawals...here is one more chapter of those two- FOR NOW. I hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

Carter's music was blaring through her ear buds as her feet thudded on the sidewalk of the streets surrounding the performance center in Tampa. She was mid run, settled in to her stride, and feeling her runner's high. Even with it being so early it was still hot, sticky hot, but she didn't really mind it; the sweat made her feel like she had put in more work than she had. It was all mental.

Her phone started ringing, interrupting her workout playlist with the opening chords of 'Everlong' by the Foo Fighters, and just like that her whole rhythm and stride was thrown off.

She cursed out loud and stopped running, taking a few deep breaths before hitting the button on the microphone of her ear buds to answer her call. She didn't even bother to check her arm and see who it was that was calling.

"Yeah?" she asked, still taking deep breaths. Hopefully it wasn't anyone she needed to be professional with.

"Sunshine…" she heard the smug, smooth voice of Seth come across the line.

She sighed and shook her head, taking a long look at the sidewalk stretching ahead of her.

"I can't…I can't really talk right now, Seth…I…"

"The fuck are you doing, C?" he laughed. "You sound like you…well, I won't say that…"

"I'm in, or I _was_ , in the middle of a run, you perv. I'm somewhere near the performance center."

"Oh, well you shouldn't have stopped for me…you could've called back."

She frowned, resting her hands on her hips; her breathing was finally slowing down. "I didn't. I forgot to turn my ringer off and it interrupted my music and it threw me off. I figured I might as well answer; I didn't even know it was you…I didn't look."

"Go finish your run," he said.

"What did you want? Or were you just calling to chat?" she asked.

"I mean would it be a sin if I just called to chat with you?"

"No," she huffed, "I didn't mean it to sound like that. I just…"

"You're in a bad mood, huh?"

"Yeah, a little bit, hence why I'm knee deep in a maze of streets in Orlando."

"What's wrong?"

"Just another pay per view that I'm getting demoted from, Nick is being a twat and trying to be my friend, PMS; standard stuff. It's no big deal, I'll work it out."

"Can I help?"

"Hmm, no, I don't think so, really. Thank you, though. It'll pass."

"Would having dinner with me help?"

"What?"

"I'm coming to Orlando; I'll be there at like two or three and I have a workout tonight. I'm getting back in the ring."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"So you're coming back? It's official?"

"I don't know when yet, it depends on how things go this weekend, but it'll be soon. It's official."

"God, Seth, that's fucking great!" she exclaimed, she had a warm smile on her face, despite nobody being around to see it. "I'm happy for you; you…deserve a good comeback."

"Well now we have to get you cheered up."

She chuckled, "oh, um…shit, I wasn't planning on sticking around after I finished my workout. I need to pack, still, I'm flying to Jersey in the AM. I don't even have dinner worthy clothes with me…I only came here to get my hair done, honestly."

"That's one of the girliest things I've ever heard you say."

"It happens."

"Well I'll come to you, then, if you aren't going to be in Orlando. Tampa isn't that far."

She inhaled deeply at the sound of concern in his voice. "You don't have to do that. The last thing you need after a flight is to get in a car and drive an hour and then drive back an hour, especially with what you have going on tomorrow. You're going to throw everything at it, I know you. I really will be fine. I'm gonna pack and go to sleep and go get on my own flight."

"You just really don't want to hang out with me, huh?"

"That's not it, Seth; you know that."

"I know," he inhaled deeply, sighing. "Go finish your run; get that mood out of you. Just…destroy yourself, you'll feel better."

"I'm gonna try."

"My offer is always open if you change your mind and start to feel bad for me being all alone in Orlando on a Friday night…"

"Your guilt trips never work on me," she said, laughing lightly. "Have a good trip, be safe, keep me updated, ok?"

"You got it."

She smiled to herself as she pressed the button on her microphone again to end the call. Her music immediately came blaring back through her ear buds and she jumped a little bit, she had already forgotten about it. She took a moment to skip a few songs and to stretch her legs a little bit and then she lowered her gaze and started back at it; she was going to do exactly what Seth had said and work it all out of her.

By the time Carter had finished her run and cleaned up with a shower, she was already starting to regret automatically turning Seth down. Truthfully, it would be nice to have dinner with him. She loved hanging out with him, the few times they had gotten to hang out, and he was probably right that it would cheer her up. If anything she would at least have an excuse to indulge in a few drinks.

Now that she had changed her mind she had to figure out her plan. He said he would be there around three and had a workout at the performance center. Did she try and go home and come back? Did she hang around Orlando? She had the time either way.

She made a quick decision in her head and headed out of the performance center to her jeep, fishing her phone from her pocket as she walked.

"Well hi…"

Carter popped her back hatch as Seth answered his phone and tossed her bag in before she turned, surveying the parking lot.

"I changed my mind."

"You're a woman, you do that..." Seth dryly responded.

"Don't make me change it again."

He chuckled, "what happened? Did the run work it out of you?"

"I don't know I just felt like I kind of blew you off and that was rude of me."

"You didn't, C, I get it."

"And it'll be good to hang out. We can celebrate."

"What happened to not having dinner appropriate clothes? Don't drive all the way home and come back for me. It's fine…really."

"Well I don't but Becky does and I have a key to her condo and she said she's fine with me borrowing something. I'm just gonna hang out by the pool probably…I'll speed pack in the morning."

"I like it."

"So are you getting a rental or what? What's the plan gonna be? You have a workout, right?"

"I have a WWE chauffeur and yeah I'm probably gonna go straight there and workout. I can take an Uber and meet you wherever. You pick. You're more familiar with Orlando these days than I am."

"I'll just meet you at the performance center, I'll drive. And I'll think about where to go. I don't know what I'm craving right now…"

"Sounds good. Pick something good, though; we're celebrating."

She rolled her eyes, "I got it. Have a good flight ok? I'll see you this afternoon."

"Enjoy your sunbathing…"

Carter had opted for a pair of jeans and a plain royal blue tank top. She threw on an accent necklace and braided her hair in a loose braid that hung over her shoulder, some loose strands managing to blow out from her drive to the performance center with her windows down and music blaring. Becky's closet wasn't so bad to shop in, she decided.

She made her way into the performance center and down the hallway that led to the rings. Seth was still there with the trainers and she paused off to the side to stand and watch.

She smiled to herself. She couldn't remember ever really just standing and watching him wrestle. She had seen him at shows but it was always on a monitor, or on TV; not in person. It was good to see him in the ring. She could see his focus but he also had a smile on his face; she knew he was feeling absolute happiness at the prospect of returning to action literally any day now.

She wasn't sure how long she stood and watched and waited but she finally realized they were calling it a night. She smiled at one of the trainers, Amy, as she started towards the ring.

"How many times am I gonna see you around here today?" Amy asked her.

"Oh this is it," Carter chuckled and nodded towards the ring, "I'm only back because of that one."

Amy turned and glanced at Seth who was talking to Tye Dillinger. "He's looking good."

"Good, he's been dying for this day to come."

Amy winked at her, "get out of here. Find something fun to do. You work too much."

"Yes ma'am."

Carter was chuckling as she continued closer to the ring. Seth wandered over to the side she was on and gripped the top rope, lowering himself to sit on the apron.

"What'd you think sunshine?" he smiled.

"I don't know the first thing about anything so that's not a question to ask me but from what I was just told things look good. How did it feel?"

"Good…a little nerve racking. I feel like every time I'm plant my foot my knee is gonna give again but I think it's just a mental thing. It feels good, though. I'm a little sore…"

"You'll get past it," she smiled. "You gotta get back in there and do the move that got you. Get it out of the way and you'll be back to the old Rollins."

"I needed this; to be back in here." They shared a smile and a short silence. He took a second to look her up and down, hopefully without her noticing. He could tell she had been in the sun that day; she had a slight glow to her. She had dressed casually and simply but she still managed to look beautiful. "You look nice."

"Thank you."

"I'm a little sad you didn't wear any of Becky's goggles though…"

"I thought about a top hat. There was one in her closet. I figured that would be a bit too much, though."

"I think you could've pulled it off. Is it ok if I shower before we go wherever it is you're taking me?"

"We're getting seafood, it's a little mom and pop kind of place and they have the most amazing lobster stuffed mushrooms, so I hope you aren't allergic or anything."

"I'm not."

"Good, and please do shower, I don't need you being all smelly and sweaty in my Jeep."

He rolled his eyes at her, "I don't smell; ever. I'll make it quick I promise."

"Take your time."

Carter watched Seth cross over to the other side of the ring and drop down to roll under the bottom rope. He disappeared for a second and then popped back up, a backpack hanging off his shoulder by one strap and then he disappeared down the hallway.

At least she was spending her time waiting in a building she was familiar with. She wandered across the space and leaned against the open doorway to the weight room. Cesaro and Cena were both across the room, chatting quietly. After a few moments, Cena broke away and made his way over to Carter.

"Mrs. Carter," John nodded at her.

"Mrs. Carter is Beyoncé," she countered.

"How are you? I haven't seen you lately."

"I'm good, and I know, I've been kind of hiding. With Nikki and Brie not around all the time now I don't know…things have been different. I've been figuring things out."

"Everything okay?"

"Yes, you don't have to worry about me."

"Oh I never worry about you, you are the one member for the fab four that I know can handle herself. Don't tell Nicole I said that, or the other two." Carter smiled warmly at him and nodded. "So I saw you over there, through the windows, talking to Rollins…you uh…" John wiggled his eyebrows at her and gave her the closest he ever came to a goofy grin.

"Don't start with me; we aren't. We're friends and he's getting evaluated to get back in the ring. We're just going to dinner."

"Well you look very nice," he said, a teasing glint in his eyes. "Need any recommendations?"

"No, I have it handled, thank you."

"Well have fun. Do responsible things, or don't…I'm not one to judge…"

"Stop it!" Carter laughed and scolded. She shared a quick hug with him and then winked before turning on her heel to walk away and calling over her shoulder, "I'm telling Nicole that you were picking on me!"

By the time Sunday rolled around and Carter was dragging herself out of her bed in her hotel room to prepare for Extreme Rules day, she was in less of a bad mood but still not feeling as good as she wished she was. She had hoped she would get some time with Renee since she had to be in New Jersey early to help with some promotional appearances before the show, but Renee had stayed back in Vegas, not flying in until Sunday morning.

She did get to have a quick dinner with Roman, though, which was always nice, but she missed her girls. She missed Nikki and Brie's sibling rivalry and arguing and she missed her safety net of her best friends. At least she would have a few nights and mornings of road trips to the next town with Becky coming up.

She had begrudgingly pulled herself from bed, gotten ready as much as she intended to, grabbed a late breakfast and made her way to the arena to prepare for the day. She had a creative meeting, hair and makeup, a Facebook live session to do and then it would be time for the show. No pre show for her, but she had a few segments during the show.

Much to her chagrin, shortly after she settled in the hair and makeup chair with her freshly made cup of coffee, Dana Brooke sat down across from her. Carter bit the inside of her lip and sighed quietly- of course, it had to be her ex's new girl friend, the girl he cheated on her with. The girl that probably had no idea he had spent the last few days telling her that he missed her. She cut her eyes up at Lindy who mouthed a 'sorry' at her.

Carter's phone vibrated in her lap at just the right moment. The awkward silence was starting to get heavy around the area. She glanced down, doing her best not to disturb Lindy and her brilliant work, to see who the message was from.

It was Seth.

 **How's your day, sunshine? Sorry I've been MIA all of this traveling distracts me sometimes.**

 **You don't have to apologize, it's fine. My day has been 'meh'. Dana is currently sitting across from me in hair & makeup and it's super awkward taco.**

 **Dropkick her in the face…**

 **Seth, no.**

 **When I'm officially back I'll be sure I have a match with Ziggler so I can take care of him for you. I can't do anything about Dana, though…recruit Becky.**

 **Oh she's ready and waiting.  
How is the 'official return' looking? What's the word? When is it happening? You haven't told me shit and I'm on the edge of my seat over here!  
**

 **Don't fall off :)  
It's happening soon but I don't know for sure yet. **

**But it's definitely happening?**

 **It's definitely happening.**

Carter paused for a moment to look around the arena around her, take in the people that were around. Dana was still across from her. She could see Big E and Kofi talking to Nattie down the hallway, Sasha and her husband were hovering over her latest wardrobe piece for that night. No Renee or Becky, no Bellas, no Cena; she was kind of lonely at the moment. Having Seth back on the road was going to be nice; a good change. She just hoped it wasn't weird. Their few moments that they had been in the same place with each other had come with it's share of complications and weirdness, but they had also had a couple of really good nights, like their dinner two nights before in Orlando. She could use that right now.

 **It'll be weird to see you every day.** She finally responded to him.

 **You probably won't want to be friends with anymore and I wouldn't blame you for that.**

 **Are you back on the whole 'I'm a bad guy. I'm an asshole.' thing again? We've been over this…  
Besides if Wrestlemania didn't ruin things I don't see what would…**

 **No changes to the pre show? It's still Amy and not you?**

 **No changes…**

 **Are you going to be ok?**

 **I feel very out of place right now. I don't feel like I belong but I'm not sure if it's because I really don't belong or if it's just because I'm in my feelings without the twins around and Renee. I think I'm just going through a phase…I'll blame the moon cycle or something. It's all just really weird.**

 **I'm sure I'll probably have some moments like that when I'm back on the card permanently too.  
Keep your head up sunshine. You're where you're supposed to be, I promise.**

 **Thank you**

He didn't respond to her right away and that was fine. She needed to turn her attention on her present moment and let Lindy finish glamming her up for the night.

She knew she was right in telling him she was just going through a thing and it would pass; it happened. She really felt she just needed one good thing to fall in to her lap, one little moment, and it would snap her right out of it. She was thankful for his support, though. Things had certainly changed for them.

"Carter Kelly."

Carter heard her name come from behind her and she turned in her seat, seeking at the voice that had summoned her. Her eyes landed on Mark Carano and she inwardly cursed.

"Yes?"

He motioned his head down the hallway. She was seated next to Becky and Charlotte, watching the end of the night's pay per view, waiting to wrap up her time on the clock and head to the next city.

"Come take a quick walk with me."

Carter inhaled deeply and cast a look at the two girls and then stood from her seat, heading towards Carano. They walked a few feet in silence and he stopped next to one of the empty equipment cases that was pushed up against the wall.

"How are you doing?" he asked her.

"Oh, I'm good," Carter smiled. "I'm tired now but pay per view days are always tiring."

"You're really doing good?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. I have no complaints."

He studied her quietly for a moment, narrowing her eyes at her and then nodded, "okay, well, I'll let you enjoy the rest of the show and tonight but tomorrow morning Stephanie and I want to meet with you. Can you do nine?"

"I'll make sure I can do nine since it's my bosses requesting it."

"Good girl, I'll see you in the morning."

 _Perfect_ Carter thought to herself as she watched Carano walk away from her. She sighed deeply and let her body lean against the wall. A meeting with Carano and Stephanie; how did she managed to get so lucky? And when was she supposed to start obsessing over if it was a good meeting or not? She ran her hands through her hair and exhaled, letting her cheeks puff out as she exhaled, and pushed herself off the wall with intentions to reclaim her seat and watch the end of the main event match.

She paused before she even took a step when she caught movement of a group of people walking down the hallway towards her. She studied them for a moment and then laughed lightly when she realized who it was.

Seth Rollins. Seth was with them; his ring gear on and the hood of his jacket covering a hat that was pulled low over his eyes.

He gave her a discreet wink as they passed by her and all she could do was let her mouth drop slightly at the fact he was there, he was in his ring gear, he was making an appearance that night.

"That little fucker…" she mumbled to herself and scoffed. She couldn't believe he hadn't told her; she had been talking to him all day.

She quickly made her way back to her seat and to her chair, soon enough to watch Roman spear AJ out of mid air and pin him to win the match and win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Then there was Seth, running to the ring and sliding in to it to pedigree Roman and lift the championship over his head; his championship. Seeing the look on his face and hearing the way the entire arena was reacting to him, there was no way she could be upset with him for not telling her. She was happy for him; she was happy he was back.


End file.
